Dr. Cheyla Samuelson is Assistant Professor of Spanish and Undergraduate Program Coordinator for the Spanish Section in the Department of World Languages and Literatures at San Jose State University. Her research interests include twentieth-century Spanish American literature, with an emphasis on contemporary Mexican narrative. She is currently developing a project on alternative narratives of violence in Mexico that will include several conference presentations, a panel at the Latin American Studies Association Conference, and an edited volume on the subject. Her current project also includes work on specific contemporary Mexican writers, including Cristina Rivera Garza, Sara Uribe, Rosa Beltrán and Valeria Luiselli.