About Stephen Minot nbsp; Stephen Minot, Professor Emeritus of the Creative Writing Department at the University of California, Riverside, has taught creative writing for over thirty years.nbsp; Over the span of his very successful career, Professor Minot authored three novels, two collections of short stories, and three textbooks includingReading FictionandLiterary Nonfiction, The Fourth Genre.nbsp; His short stories have appeared in a variety of magazines and literary quarterlies includingTheAtlantic, Harpers, The Kenyon Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review,and theSewanee Review, just to name a few.nbsp; Professor Minotrsquo;s work has also appeared in theO. Henry Prize Storiescollection… andThe Best American Short Stories.nbsp; He is also the recipient of the Atlantic First Award, the Saxton Memorial Fellowship, and the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for writing.nbsp; Professor Minot and Virginia, his wife, split their time between California and Maine.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;About Diane Thiel nbsp; Diane Thiel is the author of eight books of poetry, nonfiction and creative writing pedagogy, includingEcholocations,Resistance Fantasies,nbsp;Winding Roads: Exercises in Writing Creative Nonfiction, Cross Roads: Creative Writing in Four Genres,andOpen Roads: Exercises in Writing Poetry.nbsp;Thielrsquo;s translation of Alexis Stamatisrsquo;s novel,American Fugue, received an NEA Award.nbsp; Her work appears in many journals, is re-printed in over fifty anthologies, and has been translated widely.nbsp; She has received numerous awards, such as the PEN Translation, Robert Frost, and Robinson Jeffers Awards, and was a Fulbright Scholar.nbsp; Thiel has taught creative writing for twenty years and is a Professor at the University of New Mexico. nbsp;