Cristina Rivera Garza is a celebrated Mexican author and professor, renowned for her compelling fictional work. She was born on October 1, 1964, in Tamaulipas, near the U.S.-Mexico border. Rivera Garza's distinguished career encompasses both teaching and writing, with prominent positions held at various universities and institutions such as the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Tec de Monterrey, Campus Toluca, and University of California, San Diego. Currently, she serves as a professor at the University of Houston.

Her literary works have garnered widespread acclaim, with novels like Nadie me verá llorar (No One Will See Me Cry) receiving numerous prestigious awards in Mexico and internationally. Her accolades include the Juan Vicente Melo National Short Story Award, the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize—which she won twice, becoming the only author to do so—and the Anna Seghers Prize. In addition, Rivera Garza earned the esteemed 2020 MacArthur Fellowship and was selected as a member of El Colegio Nacional (Mexico) in 2023.

She has published an array of fiction and non-fiction works that have been translated into multiple languages, including English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Korean, and more. Her significant contribution to literature was also recognized with the Roger Caillois Prize for Latin American literature in 2013. Rivera Garza's works explore various themes and continue to influence readers across the globe.