Alicia Steimberg was born in 1933 in Buenos Aires, the descendant of Eastern European Jewish immigrants to Argentina. She received an advanced education and training in English and has worked for many years as a professional translator. Her own literature has a clear autobiographical component, and she has earned a reputation as one of Argentina's best contemporary writers. In 1992 she was awarded the prestigious Premio Planeta Biblioteca del Sur for her novel "Cuando digo Magdalena," since translated into English and available in the Bison Books edition, "Call Me Magdalena,"