Blanca Varela (1926-2009) was born in Lima, Peru, in 1926. Considered one of Peru's greatest poets, as well as the first woman to win the Federico Garc-a Lorca International Poetry Prize, she has not been translated in English until now. The Mexican Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz praised her poetry and identified one of her gifts as knowing when to be silent if it is time not to write. Carlos Lara (translator) is the co-author of The Audiographic As Data. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two cats.