Leo Victor Briones was born in El Paso, Texas in 1963. His father came from a family of “mueblerias” or furniture makers who fled the Mexican Revolution for border town of El Paso. His mother’s family, first generation immigrants, but well established in the social circles of Northern Mexico, West Texas, and New Mexico. His grandmother’s second cousin was the lauded Mexican muralist, David Alfaro Siqueiros. Briones credits his blending of art and with social justice to this family lineage. “Siqueiros believed that any form of art should be available to all people — even the desperately poor. And that art should have a social conscience.  I too believe that art should have a purpose whether for social change or spiritual transcendence,” reflects Briones.

Briones was profoundly affected by the tumult into which he was born: the assassinations of the John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Vietnam War. His early intellectual influences were not writers but musicians: Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Neil Young and other socially conscious artists.

In high school, Briones met Walter Kelly, his English teacher who would become his lifelong mentor and editor. Through Kelly, he was introduced to the poetry of Dylan Thomas, T.S. Elliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Emily Dickinson, Pablo Neruda, Carl Sandburg, and Robinson Jeffers. These poets inspired Briones to begin writing at the age of fifteen. He wrote sporadically until he was in his early thirties. Then Briones wrote no poetry for nearly eight years.

In 2005 his best friend, actor, playwright, and community activist Quentin Drew passed away a victim of kidney cancer. The painful consequences of Drew’s illness and death awakened Briones once more to his love of verse. Mr. Briones reflects, “Q believed that everyone should pursue their art. Whether it was acting, theater, raising a family, or being a poet. Every time I write I do so in honor of his life and in that spirit.”

Today Mr. Briones studies under the tutelage of prominent poet and writing teacher Cathy Colman. Colman known by many as “the Muse” for her celebrity client list is the winner of the prestigious Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, 2001.

Mr. Briones’ debut book The Poet Remains was published in October of 2006. The Poet Remains is an attempt at what Briones describes as Transcendental Revivalism or “a poetic rebellion against the angst, cynicism, and intellectualism of much of modern poetry. Poetry that often has perfect form and function but is perfectly meaningless. I believe, like Faulkner, that writing is only valuable when it explores the conflicts of the human condition.”

Mr. Briones’ book was highlighted at The Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word in Memphis, Tennessee in October. Briones' poetry is being featured widely at readings in the Los Angeles area. In addition, he will begin a reading tour of the deep South in late February, with performances in Columbia and Charleston, SC; and Savannah and Atlanta, GA. Leo Victor Briones was highlighted as the Featured Poet and The Poet Remains was reviewed by getundergroud.com this month

Leo Briones owns his own communications firm in Los Angeles, California. He has two young sons; Andres and Diego.