He enrolled in Stanford Law School, and received his J.D.

After returning, he considered graduate education in English or History. Watson Fellowship, and spent the following year in Buenos Aires and Madrid where he worked on translations of works by Spanish-American poet Rubén Darío. He graduated in 1976 cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He was the first person in his family to go to college he attended Colorado College and 'acquired a special affinity for literature and writing.' He joined a group of young poets that included writer and humorist David Owen and the poet David Mason. Nava's grandmother was an 'influential force' whose 'piety and humility was highlighted by her Catholic beliefs.' Īt 12 years old, he started writing and it was also around that time he recognized that he was gay. Nava grew up in Gardenland, a predominantly working-class Mexican neighborhood in Sacramento, California that he described as 'not as an American suburb at all, but rather as a Mexican village, transported perhaps from Guanajuato, where my grandmother's family originated, and set down lock, stock and chicken coop in the middle of California.' His maternal family settled there in 1920 after escaping from the Mexican Revolution. His novels have received seven Lambda Literary Awards and critical acclaim in the GLBT and Latino communities. He authored a ten-volume mystery series featuring Henry Rios, an openly gay protagonist who is a criminal defense lawyer.

He has worked on the staff for the California Supreme Court, and ran for a Superior Court position in 2010. Michael Angel Nava (born September 16, 1954) is an American attorney and writer.

The Burning Plain by Michael Nava