Bio
Julio Cesar Alonso Jr. was born in Havana, where his father commanded the Cuban Naval Air Force Base in Mariel. The family fled Cuba when JC was three, landing in Miami, Florida, where he grew up. His father became a cargo ship captain, and so began JC’s connection to the Merchant Marine. Since the age of eight, he has spent many summers at sea, working as a deckhand and later a helmsman. JC has worked on bulk carriers, container ships, tankers, and RO/RO vessels, and was dock supervisor for Antillean Marine on the Miami River.
JC received BAs from Florida State University, in Psychology and Creative Writing where Janet Burroway was his teacher. He taught at Miami Dade Community College for fourteen years and earned an MS in Counseling from Nova Southeastern University. He received his MA from Wilkes University working with Lenore Hart and David Poyer and completed his MFA thesis with Dr. J.M. Lennon. He now lives in Florida, where he fishes and dives with his brother. His poetry has been published in Poetry Quarterly and Haiku Journal and a short story received mention in The Atlantic Monthly. He presently tutors at Broward College and teaches at Nova Southeastern University. Murderer's Wake is his first novel.