Marie Arana is an author of nonfiction and fiction, senior advisor to the U.S. Librarian of Congress, director of the National Book Festival, the John W. Kluge Center’s Chair of the Cultures of the Countries of the South, and a writer at large for The Washington Post. Her memoir, American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood, was a finalist for the National Book Award. She is also the author of Cellophane: A Novel and Lima Nights: A Novel. For many years, Arana was editor-in-chief of The Washington Post’s literary section, Book World. She has also written for The New York Times, National Geographic, The International Herald Tribune, Spain’s El País, and Peru’s El Comercio, among many other publications.