Manlio Argueta’s novels have earned him an international reputation and have endeared him to the Salvadoran people. His first two novels, El valle de las hamacas (1970) and Caperucita en la zona roja (LittleRed Riding Hood in the Red Light District) (1978), present the social instability and political repression in the country during the seventies. Caperucita en la zona roja (Little Red Riding Hood in the Red Light District) received the Casa de las Americas Prize in 1977. His third and fourth novels, Un dia en la vida (1980) and Cuzcatian donde bate la mar del sur (1986) describe the escalating repression and rebellion in the late seventies. His fifth novel, Milagro de la Paz (1994) examines the legacy of civil strife in the lives of a Salvadoran woman and her family. He currently lives in San Salvador.