My inordinately talented cohort, who challenged me each workshop with their insight and feedback: special thanks to Jia Tolentino, who edited and published my first essay; Rachel Greene; Derrick Austin; and Mairead Small Staid, whose kindness and good humor kept me warm through three Michigan winters. And to Chris McCormick, fellow country mouse, for the impromptu brainstorming sessions and hastily planned trips and endless advice. I applied to graduate school only hoping to improve my writing. What a gift to have met you all.
To the creative writing faculty who mentored me at Stanford, particularly Ammi Keller, who encouraged me during that first scattershot draft, and Stephanie Soileau, who challenged me during my first real revision. You both approached those early drafts with such seriousness and generosity, and I’m forever grateful.
To Ashley Buckner, who knocked on my dorm room one evening to invite me to dinner and, years later, became someone I cannot imagine my life without; Brian Wanyoike, who pushes me to live largely and think intricately; Ashley Moffett, my oldest friend and first reader. To my family, for all your love and support. And to all the writers and artists and scholars who mothered me, who gave me language, who gave me life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Southern California, Brit Bennett graduated from Stanford University and later earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan, where she won a Hopwood Award in Graduate Short Fiction as well as the 2014 Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers. Her work is featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel.