Benjamin Alire Saenz was born August 16, 1954 in New Mexico. He is one of seven children. He received a B.A. degree in Humanities and Philosophy from St. Thomas Seminary in 1977. He studies theology from 1977 to 1981 and then became a priest. In 1985 he returned to school and got a M.A. in Creative Writing. He then received a PhD in America Literature at the University of Iowa. After that he went to Stanford where he wrote his first book of poems called Calendar of Dust. His first novel was Carry Me Like Waters.
