Cary Groner grew up in the Midwest and has worked as a journalist and photographer for many years. He earned his MFA in fiction writing from the University of Arizona in 2009, and his debut novel, Exiles, was a Chicago Tribune “best book” of 2011. His short stories have won numerous awards, including the Glimmer Train fiction open, and have appeared there and in other venues including American Fiction, Mississippi Review, Sycamore Review, and Southern California Review. Cary teaches at the Writing Salon and is completing a new novel and a story collection. His website is www.carygroner.com.
Born in Mexico City, Monica de la Torre came to the United States in 1993 on a Fulbright scholarship to study at Columbia University. Her poetry explores with great depth both the boundaries and the permeability of imposed identity, combining a playful use of form and dry humor with a hint of hopefulness. Talk Shows, her first book in English, was published in 2007 by Switchback Books. De la Torre serves as poetry editor of The Brooklyn Rail.
http://lunchpoems.berkeley.edu