Kate Chopin was born in St. Louis, Missouri, In 1851. She began writing shortly after her Husband's death and, from 1889 until her own Death, her stories and other miscellaneous Writings appeared in "Vogue, Youth's companion, Atlantic Monthly, Century, Saturday Evening Post, " and other publications. In addition to "The Awakening, "Mrs. Chopin published another novel, "At Fault, " and two collections of short stories and sketches, "Bayou Folk" and "A Night at Acadie." The publication of "The Awakening" in 1899 occasioned shocked and angry response from reviewers all over the country. The book was taken off the shelves of the St. Louis mercantile library and its author was barred from the fine arts club. Kate Chopin died in 1904.

Claire Vaye Watkins is the author of "Battleborn", winner of the Story Prize, the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Silver Pen Award from the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. "Battleborn "was named a Best Book of 2012 by the "San Francisco Chronicle", "Boston Globe", "Time Out New York", and"Flavorwire", and a Best Short Story Collection by NPR.org. In 2012, the National Book Foundation named Claire one of the 5 Best Writers Under 35. Her stories and essays have appeared in "Granta", "One Story", "The Paris Review", "Ploughshares", "Glimmer Train", "Best of the West 2011", "Best of the Southwest 2013", and elsewhere. A graduate of the University of Nevada Reno and the Ohio State University, Claire has received fellowships from the Writers Conferences at Sewanee and Bread Loaf. An assistant professor at Bucknell University, Claire is also the co-director, with Derek Palacio, of the Mojave School, a free creative writing workshop for teenagers in rural Nevada.