Salvador Plascencia is an American writer, born 21 December 1976 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The Plascencia family eventually settled near Los Angeles in the city of El Monte when he was eight years old. Plascencia holds a B.A. in English from Whittier College and an MFA in fiction from Syracuse University. The recipient of a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Award in Fiction in 1996 and the Peter Neagoe Prize for Fiction in 2000. In 2001 he was awarded a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, its first fellow in fiction. He was awarded the Bard Fiction Prize from Bard College in 2008. His first published fiction appeared in McSweeney's Issue 12. McSweeney's also published his first novel, The People of Paper, in 2005. In its January 2010 issue, Poets & Writers named Plascencia one of the "Fifty Most Inspiring Living Authors in the World." In August 2015, Plascencia began teaching creative writing at Harvey Mudd College. External links Author's site Nashville Review interview McSweeney's page Bookslut interview 3:AM review Hobart interview Online interview with author on Letras Latinas Oral History Project. References 1976 births Living people Syracuse University alumni Whittier College alumni 21st-century American novelists American male novelists McSweeney's People from El Monte, California American male short story writers Hispanic and Latino American novelists American writers of Mexican descent 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from California Harvey Mudd College faculty