[1][2] Incarcerated in his twenties for stealing money to feed his struggling family, Sánchez read extensively and even learned Hebrew while at Soledad Prison in California.

In 1971, his first solo collection of poetry was published, establishing Sánchez as one of the nation's most important Chicano poets.

[3] In 1958, he had turning point after a high school teacher told him, "Chicano boys don't grow up to be poets.

in the service; nevertheless, his stint ended with a dishonorable discharge after he was arrested and sentenced to prison in 1960 at the age of nineteen.

Soon after his release, he married his wife, María Teresa Silva, yet he struggled to support his growing family.

After publishing his work in an edited anthology, Sánchez received a prestigious Frederick Douglass journalism fellowship.