Ann Harleman is the author of two story collections, THOREAU'S LAUNDRY, and HAPPINESS (which won the Iowa Short Fiction Award); and two novels, THE YEAR SHE DISAPPEARED, and BITTER LAKE. Among her awards are Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships, the Berlin Prize in Literature, the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, and the O. Henry Award. Ann was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in linguistics from Princeton University, and she has lived and worked behind the Iron Curtain and (much more happily) in Italy. After two decades teaching fiction writing at the Rhode Island School of Design, Ann is currently on the faculty of Brown University. She makes her home within sight of San Francisco Bay.