Zamora was born in San Luis La Herradura, El Salvador[1] and illegally immigrated to the United States at the age of nine,[2] joining his parents in California.

After that Zamora was left in the care of his grandparents until he migrated to the United States through Guatemala, Mexico, and the Sonoran Desert at the age of nine.

Due to his experiences along that journey Zamora was inspired to write his novel "1999 & Other Poems" to bring awareness to the hostile environments those crossing the border face.

[6] In his final year of high school, visiting artist Rebecca Foust introduced Pablo Neruda's Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair to the class, sparking Zamora's passion for poetry.

[9][10] Zamora's chapbook Nueve Años Inmigrantes/Nine Immigrant Years won the 2011 Organic Weapon Arts Contest, and his first poetry collection, Unaccompanied,[11] was published in 2017 by Copper Canyon Press.

[18][19] Zamora was a founder, with poets Marcelo Hernandez Castillo and Christopher Soto (AKA Loma), of the Undocupoets campaign which eliminated citizenship requirements from major first poetry book prizes in the United States.