Lorna Dee Cervantes is considered one of the major Chicana poets of the past 40 years. She describes herself as "a Chicana writer, a feminist writer, a political writer." She was born in 1954 and grew up in San Jose; her parents allowed only English to be spoken at home by her and her brother. She was an associate professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder until 2007.

Her three collections of poetry, Emplumada, From the Cables of Genocide, and Drive: The First Quartet are held in high esteem and have attracted numerous nominations and awards.

Visit her blog.