Dagoberto GilbDagoberto Gilb spent sixteen years working as a construction worker, twelve as a highrise carpenter with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. He is the author of The Magic of Blood (University of New Mexico Press), which won the 1994 PEN/Hemigway Award and was a PEN/Faulkner finalist, The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acua, Woodcuts of Women, and Gritos, which was a finalist for the National Books Critics Circle Award. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Whiting Writers' Award. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Threepenny Review, Harper's, and The Best American Essays. His latest novel, The Flowers, is due out at the end of the year. Born in Los Angeles, he made his home for many years in El Paso and now lives in Austin, Texas. Read More Read Less