http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/gioconda_belli/profile.html
Gioconda Belli is a Nicaraguan poet, writer and political activist. She was involved in the Nicaraguan Revolution from a very young age and occupied important positions in the Sandinista Party and the Nicaraguan Writer's Union. She won the Casa de las Americas Prize in 1978 for her poetry book, Line of fire, and the prize for the Best Political Novel of the Year in Germany in 1989 for her novel, The Inhabited Woman. Her work has been translated into eleven languages. She's written four novels, six books of poetry, a memoir and a children's book, aside from essays and political commentary. Her memoir, The Country under my skin, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2003 and selected as one of the best books of the year by the same newspaper. She resigned from the Sandinista Party in 1993 and divides her time between Nicaragua and Los Angeles. She is married to Charles Castaldi and has four children. Her most recent novel, The Scroll of Seduction has been published in Spain, Germany and Holland and will be published in English by Rayo in September 2006. -- Michael Pugliese