Cheryl Klein’s first book, The Commuters: A Novel of Intersections, won City Works Press’ Ben Reitman Award. Her novel Lilac Mines will be published by Manic D Press in 2009. Her fiction has also appeared or is forthcoming in journals including The Normal School, other and CrossConnect, and the anthologies Hunger and Thirst (City Works Press, 2009) and Jane’s Stories III (Jane’s Stories Press, 2006). She directs the California office of Poets & Writers, Inc. and previously co-edited the online queer fiction magazine Blithe House Quarterly. She has taught creative writing to homeless youth, high school girls, and teen boys in the criminal justice system. She lives in Los Angeles.