Francisco Prieto (1942) is the author of 13 novels, four plays and several essays. His first novel, Caracoles, was published by Joaquín Mortiz in 1975, and was followed by Taller de Maronietas (Grijalbo), Ruedo de incautos (Premià), La inclinación (Plaza & Janés), Si llegamos a diciembre (Premià), Deseo (Joaquín Mortiz), Ilusiones tardías (Joaquín Mortiz, finalist for the 1993 Mortiz/Planeta Award), La francesa del café de Tacuba (Premià), El poder de la quimera (Aldus), Campo de batalla (Jus), Crímenes en el crepúsculo (Jus), El calor del invierno (Jus) y Una réplica (UANL). In 2004, Mexico’s Fondo de Cultura Económica republished Caracoles, Ruedo de incautos and La francesa del café de Tacuba under the title Tres novelas del deseo y de la culpa. For 11 years he wrote and anchored Huellas de la Historia, a radio show, and received an Ariel nomination for best screenplay for Benjamin Cann’s De muerte natural feature film. He chaired Universidad Iberoamericana’s Department of Communication from 1982 until 1990 and was a professor there between 1969 and 1994. He’s been a guest lecturer at the Katholische Universität in Eischtätt, Germany; Spain’s Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; Chile’s Universidad Arcis; and Loyola University, New Orleans, LA, as well as many other Mexican colleges and universities. He was also general manager for Mexico’s Radio Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and ombudsman for Channel 22.