Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture and Five-College 40th Anniversary Professor at Amherst College. His books include The Essential Ilan Stavans (Routledge, 2000), The Hispanic Condition: The Power of a People (Rayo, 2001), On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of Language (Penguin, 2002), and Dictionary Days: A Defining Passion (Graywolf, 2005). He is also the author of Bandido: The Death and Resurrection of Oscar ""Zeta"" Acosta (Northwestern, 2003). Stavans has been the recipient of numerous awards, among them a Guggenheim Fellowship and Chile's Presidential Medal.
