Pablo Medina was born in Havana, Cuba and moved to New York City with his family at the age of twelve. He received a BA and an MA from Georgetown University.

Medina is the author of several poetry collections, including Soledades (Editorial Betania, 2017); The Island Kingdom (Hanging Loose Press, 2015); The Man Who Wrote on Water (Hanging Loose Press, 2011); Points of Balance/Puntos de apoyo (Four Way Books, 2005); The Floating Island (White Pine Press, 1999); and Arching into the Afterlife (Bilingual Review Press, 1991). With Carlos Ordonez, he published the photography and poetry book Calle Habana (PhotoStroud) in 2013.

Medina is also the author of the memoir Exiled Memories: A Cuban Childhood (University of Texas Press, 1990) and several novels, including The Cuban Comedy (Unnamed Press, 2019) and Cubop City Blues (Grove/Atlantic, 2012). Also known for his work in translation, Medina translated The Weight of the Island: Selected Poems of Virgilio Piñera (Diálogos, 2014) and Federico García Lorca’s Poet in New York (Grove/Atlantic, 2008) with poet Mark Statman.

Medina is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, among numerous other honors and awards. Medina served on the board of directors for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs from 2002 to 2007 and as president from 2005 to 2006. He is currently on the faculty at the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers and lives in Williamsville, Vermont.