Walter (Wally) Lamb was born in Norwich, Conn., in 1950. He attended the University of Connecticut, receiving a B.A. in 1972 and an M.A. in 1977; he also earned an M.F.A. from Vermont College in 1984. Lamb has written numerous short stories, most notably "Astronauts", which received both the Pushcart Prize and the University of Missouri's William Peden Prize in 1990. He is also the author of the bestselling novels She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True. Lamb writes stories, he says, because he sometimes hears another voice in his head and feels the need to tell that character's story. However, he feels an equally strong calling to teach, and has no plans to become a fulltime writer.… He has taught English at the Norwich Free Academy since 1972, and for many years directed the Academy's writing center, which he also played a major role in creating. The idea for it developed as he became more involved in fictionwriting himself and realized that the common methods of teaching composition, which involved grading a paper and commenting on it after the student was finished, were not particularly helpful. He set up a program that allowed students to get feedback from both teachers and peers early in the writing process, so that they could incorporate the suggestions into their final work. Lamb now teaches at the University of Connecticut. His novel She's Come Undone was a finalist for the 1992 Los Angeles Times Book Awards Art Seidenbaum Prize for first fiction. It was also chosen by the Oprah Winfrey Show as a "Book Club" selection in early 1997, and is one of the bestselling titles chosen for that honor. Lamb was awarded the 1998 Governors Arts Award, State of Connecticut, he is a past recipient of the NEA grant for fiction and is a Missouri Review William Peden fiction prize winner. Wally Lamb and his wife, Christine, live in Willimantic, Conn. They have two children, Jared and Justin.