Dagoberto Gilb is one of America’s leading authors of short stories and novels. His short story collection, “The Magic of Blood” won the 1994 PEN/Hemingway award. His writings have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine and The Best American Essays. Latinopia discovered that the first literary prize he won, the coveted James D. Phelan award, was given at a time when he was a construction worker, building what would become the Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art (MOCA). He spoke to Latinopia about what the prize meant to him.