S. Kirk Walsh is the author of THE ELEPHANT OF BELFAST, which will be published in the U.S. in April 2021, and as THE ZOOKEEPER OF BELFAST in the UK, the Commonwealth, and Ireland in April and September 2021. Her essays, reviews, and stories have been published in many publications, including The New York Times Book Review, Longreads, the Virginia Quarterly Review, StoryQuarterly, Electric Literature, and others. Over the years, she has been the recipient of fellowships and residencies at Ucross, Yaddo, Ragdale, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Walsh is the founder of Austin Bat Cave, a writing and tutoring center that provides free writing workshops for young writers throughout the greater Austin area. In 2018, the literary magazine American Short Fiction awarded Walsh with an award of Extraordinary Service in the Literary Community. She also works as an editor and teacher. Walsh lives with her husband and two cats in Austin, Texas.