Nancy Alonso was born in Havana and graduated from the University of Havana with a degree in biology in 1972. She was a professor and researcher at the Havana Institute of Medical Science for more than twenty years and served in Ethiopia as a physiology professor at Jimma's Institute of Health Sciences from 1989 to 1991. She has published two books of short stories: Tirar la primera piedra [Casting the First Stone], which won Honorable Mention in the 1995 David Competition of the Cuban National Union of Writers and Artists (UNEAC), and Cerrado por reparación [Closed for Repairs], winner of the "Alba de Céspedes" prize for women's narrative in 2002. Her stories have appeared in the anthologies Estatuas de sal [Pillars of Salt], Rumba senza palme né caresse, Cubana, Habaneras, Making a Scene, Open your Eyes and Soar, and Mi sagrada familia [My Sacred Family], among others. She is a member of UNEAC and is currently preparing two books of short stories.