Juan Octavio Prenz was born in 1932 in La Plata, Argentina. Since 1979 he has been living in Trieste. He has taught literature at the Universities in Buenos Aires, La Plata, Belgrade, Ljubljana and Trieste.
He is a poet, writer, essayist, critic and a translator. He has translated poetry from Yugoslav poets into Spanish. His works have been translated into many languages and have been included in numerous anthologies.
He has published the following books of poetry: Plaza Suburbana; Mascarón de Proa; Cuentas claras; Poslanice iz Novog Sveta; Apuntes de historia; Habladurías del Nuevo Mundo, (Premio de la Sociedad Argentina de Escritores); Cortar por lo sano; La Santa Pinta de la Niña María (International Award Casa de las Américas); Sreduvanje na smetkite,; Hombre lobo; Antología poética; Prostodusne malenkosti–Libertades mínimas,; Antologia poetica (in Italian) etc.