Born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago, Stuart Dybek teaches in the writing program at Western Michigan University. He is the author of a short story collection, The Coast of Chicago, and a book of poetry, Brass Knuckles, as well as the forthcoming fiction, I Sailed with Magellan, and a new collection of poetry, Streets in Their Own Ink. His award-winning poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous magazines, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, The Iowa Review, Antaeus, and Ploughshares.