Xochiquetzal Candelaria is the author of Empire (University of Arizona Press, 2011). Her work has appeared in The Nation, New England Review, Gulf Coast, Seneca Review and other magazines. Her essay, “On the Teaching of Phil Levine” will be published in Coming Close: Forty Essays on Philip Levine (University of Iowa Press, May 2013). Ms. Candelaria was recently awarded an individual literature fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.