IRENE ZABYTKO is the author of the novel about Chernobyl THE SKY UNWASHED (a Barnes & Nobel Discover Great New Writers title and New York Times E-Book Bestseller), WHEN LUBA LEAVES HOME (short story collection about her Ukrainian-American Chicago neighborhood), THE FICTION PRESCRIPTION (fiction writing guidebook), and her latest work of fiction, THE MIDWIFE'S TALE: A CHRISTMAS STORY. She's the recipient of the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award and a Fulbright for her research on her upcoming novel about the life of Nikolai Gogol.