About the Author

Xánath Caraza is a traveler, educator, poet and short story writer. She is the recipient of the Beca Nebrija para Creadores 2014 from the Instituto Franklin in Spain. Her poem, "Ante el río/Before the River" was selected by the Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum in 2013 to promote Day of the Dead. Her short story collection, Lo que trae la marea/ What the Tide Brings (2013), is an Award Winning Finalist in the 'Fiction: Short Story Category of the 2014 International Book Awards'; it also received second place in 'Best Translated Book of Fiction, Spanish to English' category and Honorable Mention in 'Best Popular Fiction in Spanish' category of the 2014 International Latino Book Awards, it also made the Notable Latino Books 2012-2013 by LatinoStories.com. Caraza has been nominated for the 2013 Pushcart Prize for short fiction. Caraza won the 2003 Ediciones Nuevo Espacio international short story contest in Spanish and was a 2008 finalist for the first international John Barry Award. Caraza is an Award Winning Finalist in the 'Fiction: Multicultural' category of the 2013 International Book Awards. Her book Conjuro was awarded second place in the 'Best Poetry Book in Spanish' category and received honorable mention in the 'Best First Book in Spanish, Mariposa Award' category of the 2013 International Latino Book Awards. She was named number one of the 2013 Top Ten "New" Latino Authors to Watch (and Read) by LatinoStories.com. Originally from Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, she has lived in Vermont and Kansas City. She has an M.A. in Romance Languages. She lectures in Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her poetry collection, Sílabas de viento (2014) is from Mammoth Publications. Her chapbook, Noche de Colibríes: Ekphrastic Poems (2014) if from Pandora Lobo Estepario Press. Her short story collection, Lo que trae la marea/ What the Tide Brings (2013) is from Mouthfeel Press. Her full-length book of poetry Conjuro (2012) is from Mammoth Publications and the first edition of her chapbook Corazón Pintado: Ekphrastic Poems (2012) is from TL Press. Caraza is a writer for La Bloga and she writes the "US Latino Poets en español" column. In addition, she writes the poetry/narrative section for Revista Zona de Ocio. She curates the National Poetry Month, Poem-a-Day project, for the Con Tinta Literary Organization since 2012.