Roberto Valenza (1943 – 2010) was a poet of the crazy wisdom school, influenced by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of spontaneous realization poetry of Doha songs. He spent most of the seventies living on Swayambhu Hill in Katmandu, where he attended ceremonies and initiations and was part of the international poetry scene which also included Angus MacLise and Ira Cohen, who published two classic books by Valenza under his Bardo Matrix imprint. Upon returning to the States, Roberto went to Seattle where he co-founded Red Sky Poetry Theatre and collaborated with poet margareta waterman on several chapbooks and a full-length volume of poetry, drawings and photographs from his time in Katmandu.