Vince Gotera came to the University of Northern Iowa in 1995 as a professor of creative writing and poetics. He serves as Editor at the North American Review — established in 1815, the NAR is the oldest literary magazine in the US.

Before coming to UNI, Vince taught creative writing and ethnic American literature at Humboldt State University, where he directed the creative-writing program.

He earned his MFA in poetry writing and a double PhD in English and in American Studies at Indiana University. Vince also studied at Stanford University and San Francisco State University.

In 1994, Vince published two books: Dragonfly (a collection of poems from Pecan Grove Press in San Antonio, Texas) and Radical Visions: Poetry by Vietnam Veterans (a book of literary criticism from the University of Georgia Press).

In 2003, Vince published a chapbook of poems titled Ghost Wars with Final Thursday Press. Another poetry collection, Fighting Kite, was pulished by Pecan Grove Press in 2007.

Vince's poems, short stories, and essays have appeared in Ploughshares, Caliban, Amerasia, The Kenyon Review, The Asian Pacific American Journal, Zone 3, and other literary magazines, as well as in such anthologies as Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Writing, and From Totems to Hip-Hop.

Vince is the co-founder, with Nick Carbó, of FLIPS, a listserve for writers of Philippine ancestry and anyone interested in Filipino/a literature and arts. FLIPS has been a thriving cyber-community since its founding in 1997. Vince also founded and runs a “Filipino Writers” group in Facebook.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Vince also lived in the Philippines for some time as a young child. He now lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa with his wife Mary Ann and their four children — Amanda, Amelia, Melina, and Gabriel. Vince also has a son, Marty, from a previous marriage. A graphic artist, Marty lives in Bielefeld, Germany, with his wife, Grace.

In those rare moments when Vince has free time, he plays electric bass and guitar — blues, rock, jazz. He used to play in a blues tribute bar band. He now plays bass guitar occasionally in a church worship band — no smoke, no drunks, no wannabe musicians. His favorite color is any shade of blue: teal, cornflower, sky, cobalt.