Recently retired from fulltime professorship in the Modern Languages Dept. teaching Spanish at the University of Louisville, Ky, Rhonda has turned to literary translation of Latin American and South American authors, and has to date had several books of her translations published by such notable authors as Mempo Giardenelli, Perla Suez, Ana Maria Shua and the Mexican novelist, Ruy Sánchez. She was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowshipfor her translation of Snchez's novel The Secret Gardens of Mogador: Voices of the Earth (White Pine Press, 2009).

Mempo Giardinelli is an Argentinian novelist and academic, author of numerous books, including novels, essays and short story collections. He is the winner of the Premio Nacional de Novela (Mexico) as well as the Premio Grandes Viajeros (Spain). He is the author of the bestselling novel, LUNA CALIENTE (Torrid Moon) that was the first novel by a non-Mexican author to receive the presigious Premio Nacional de Novela and which was adapted for a film in 1985. He is a regular contributor to Pagina/12 and founder of the literary review Puro Cuento.