Vickie Vértiz is the oldest child of an immigrant Mexican family. Her poetry and essays are featured in the New York Times magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books, KCET Departures, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among many others. Her book Palm Frond with Its Throat Cut won the 2018 PEN America literary prize in poetry. She earned an M.F.A. from UC-Riverside in nonfiction, a Master’s degree in public affairs from UT-Austin, and a B.A. in political science from Williams College. Vickie teaches writing at UC-Santa Barbara.