The Magic of Blood

Dagoberto Gilb (born 1950 in Los Angeles) is an American Chicano writer who worked for 16 years as a journeyman carpenter before becoming a professor of creative writing. He is best known for his short stories and novels depicting working-class Mexican American life in the American Southwest, with works including The Magic of Blood (1993 PEN/Hemingway Award winner), The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuña (1994), and The Flowers (2008). He has received numerous accolades, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and Whiting Award.