Claribel Alegría is one of the most respected and prolific writers of Central America. Since the late 1940s she has written more than forty books across many literary genres, including novels, novellas, stories, essays, testimonios (testimonials), children's stories, and poetry. Her works have been published in more than fourteen languages throughout Europe, Latin America, and the United States. With Darwin J. "Bud" Flakoll, her husband and partner in writing, Alegría has translated and edited other writers' work, produced anthologies, and cowritten novels, testimonios, and journalistic exposés. She has lectured and read widely from her work in diverse international media and academic forums, especially during the 1980s, when she was recognized unofficially as cultural ambassador of El Salvador in exile. In "The Writer's Commitment" (which first appeared in the journal Fiction International in 1984) Alegría identified herself as a profoundly "committed writer...