Novelist and critic Manlio Argueta was born in San Miguel, El Salvador, in 1935. He was exiled from El Salvador and lived in Costa Rica during the Salvadoran Civil War (1979-1992). His published works include A Place Called Milagro de la Paz, Little Red Riding Hood in the Red Light District, Cuzcatlan: Where the Southern Sea Beats, and One Day of Life, which placed fifth in the list by Modern Library of the 100 best Latin American novels of the 20th century.