Peter Orner was born at Michael Reece Hospital in Chicago. His first book, Esther Stories (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), was a New York Times Notable Book and won the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Goldberg Prize for fiction. His novel, The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo, will be published in 2006.
Neal Pollack worked as a reporter for the Chicago Reader from 1993–2000, where he wrote the “Petty Crime” column, among many other assignments. He’s the author of three books of satire, including the cult-classic The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature and the rock-n-roll novel Never Mind the Pollacks. He is a regular contributor to Vanity Fair and Nerve. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his family.
Amy Sayre-Roberts lives in Springfield, Illinois with one beautiful husband and two talented Malamutes (both born in Chicago). Her work has appeared in the American Book Review and the Alchemist Review.
C.J. Sullivan’s idol growing up was Chicago Cub legend Billy Williams. He works by day as a Court Clerk in Brooklyn Supreme and by night as a reporter for the New York Post. The two loves in his life are his twin girls: Luisa Marie and Olivia Kathleen Sullivan. He lives in New York City.
Claire Zulkey was born in Evanston, Illinois, and lives in Chicago. She has contributed to the Mississippi Review and Chicago Magazine, and published a book of literary humor titled Girls! Girls! Girls! More of her writing can be found on her website, Zulkey.com. Whatever crimes she has committed are not very interesting.