Jim Sagel writes about the Chicanos of northern New Mexico's Española Valley. He sees his writing as an attempt to portray their lives--particularly their language--with realistic accuracy. In an unpublished 1985 interview Sagel said that he considers the long New Mexican tradition of oral story telling the strongest influence on his writing.

Born in Fort Morgan, Colorado, Sagel is descended on both sides from grandparents who emigrated from the same village in Czarist Russia. After public school he enrolled in the University of Colorado, graduating in 1969 with a B.A. in English. The turning point of his life occurred that same year, when he moved to New Mexico. There, he said he experienced a sort of déjà vu, "like a dream recognition, almost"; a feeling that he had reached the place where he belonged. He found the nuevomexicanos (New Mexicans) to have a compelling...