Michael Mark grew up in Queens, New York and earned his BA and MA in creative writing from SUNY Binghamton, where he studied with John Gardner. His first two books of stories, Toba (Atheneum) and Toba At the Hands of a Thief (Atheneum) – nominated for a National Jewish Book Award – were published when he was in his 20s. Forty years later, after a successful career in advertising, his chapbook of poems, Visiting Her in Queens is More Enlightening than a Month in a Monastery in Tibet, won the 2022 Rattle Prize. Michael lives in San Diego with his wife Lois, a travel writer.  When not writing, he takes long distance walks on his own and with his grown kids. He's trekked the Himalayas and walked the Camino de Santiago three times – which is where this photo was taken.