Jaime Manrique was born in Colombia, South America. His first three books—a novella and short stories, a volume of film criticism, and a book of poems (which won his country’s National Poetry Award)—were written in Spanish. Starting with the novel, Colombian Gold, he’s been writing his fiction, and most of his non-fiction, exclusively in English, though he still writes poetry in his native tongue. He has published four other novels: Latin Moon in Manhattan, Twilight at the Equator, Our Lives Are the Rivers, and Cervantes Street (Akashic Books, 2012). He’s also the author of the memoir Eminent Maricones: Arenas, Lorca, Puig, and Me. His work has been translated into 15 languages.
Among his honors are: a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts (1999), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2000), and the International Latino Book Award (Best Novel, Historical Fiction) 2007. He is a former associate professor in the MFA program in writing at