Alma Luz Villanueva teaches in the MFA in creative writing program at Antioch University in Los Angeles. Her poetry collections include Bloodroot; Desire; Life Span; Mother, May I?; Planet, which won the Latin American Writers Poetry Prize; and Vida. Of her novels, The Ultraviolet Sky received the American Book Award and was listed in 500 Great Books by Women; Naked Ladies won the PEN Oakland Fiction Award and was excerpted in Caliente: The Best Erotic Latin American Writing; and Luna's California Poppies was recently excerpted in the anthology Califlora. Her latest novel is Song of the Golden Scorpion.