José Jiménez Lozano was born in Langa (Ávila) in 1930. He graduated in Law in Valladolid, in Philosophy and Literature in Salamanca and Journalism in Madrid. He contributed to the doyen of Spanish newspapers, El Norte de Casilla from 1958 until his retirement in 1995, three years after being appointed editor in chief. He is the author of over forty titles, including novels, short stories, essays and poetry. He has been awarded numerous prizes for his literary and journalistic work, including the Cervantes Prize for Literature in 2002. Among his recent works are: La piel de los tomates (Tomato Skins, 2007), Libro de visitantes (Visitors' Book, 2007), El azul sobrante (Left Over Blue, 2009) and Un pintor de Alejandria (An Alexandrian Painter, 2010), all published by the same house.