ALICIA GASPAR DE ALBA, a native of the El Paso/Juarez
border, is a poet, novelist and Chicano studies scholar. Her
most recent book, Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders, a
mystery novel about the ten-year crime wave of murdered women
in Ciudad Juárez, won both the Lambda Literary Award and the
Latino Book Award for Best Mystery Novel. Gaspar de Alba is
also the author of Sor Juana's Second Dream, named Best
Historical Fiction by the Latino Literary Hall of Fame, about
the brilliant 17th century Mexican nun.
LUIS ALBERTO URREA, born in Tijuana, Mexico,
is the author of several volumes of poetry, non-fiction, and
fiction. His memoir, Nobody's Son, won the American Book
Award in 1999, and his book, The Devil's Highway, was
a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. His novel,
The Hummingbird's Daughter, described as "an astonishment,
an intoxicating place in which to become lost," (Cleveland Plain
Dealer) was named a "best book" of 2005 by the Los Angeles
Times and The Washington Post.
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