Lucrecia Guerrero

Who is Lucrecia Guerrero?

Lucrecia Guerrero is a Mexican-American novelist and short story writer whose works include Chasing Shadows and the forthcoming Tree of Sighs. Guerrero spent her childhood years in Nogales, Arizona, and the border sense of that experience infuses her work. Her characters inhabit two worlds—often literally but virtually always metaphorically: their traditional hispanic roots are often at war with the more transient values of the modern United States. Her stories often focus on young people facing their own moments of transition. Tree of Sighs has recently won the Christopher Isherwood Award. Guerrero's work has brought her a solid core of admirers. Kirkus says that she "explores the Mexican community with sensitivity and respect," and Publishers Weekly observes that the "plainspoken declarations of her struggling characters give a quiet resonance to her tales." Luis Urrea calls Chasing Shadows"marvelous," and Ricardo Parra labels it a "captivatingly good read."

Guerrero currently resides near Chicago, where she writes and finds herself in frequent demand for teaching assignments at writers' conferences. She holds an MFA from Spaulding University in Louisville.