SUSAN LOHAFER is a graduate of Harvard University (B.A., magna cum laude), Stanford University (M.A. in Creative Writing) and New York University (Ph.D. in American Literature). During her academic career at the University of Iowa, she specialized in short fiction theory. Her books include COMING TO TERMS WITH THE SHORT STORY and READING FOR STORYNESS: PRECLOSURE THEORY, EMPIRICAL POETICS, AND CULTURE IN THE SHORT STORY, as well as the coedited volume SHORT STORY THEORY AT A CROSSROADS. Shorter works include the short story entry in THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO AMERICAN FICTION AFTER 1945, a personal essay listed as a Notable Essay of 2011 in THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2012, and a few short stories in venues like THE SOUTHERN REVIEW. For many years, she was the academic program director of the biennial International Conference on the Short Story in English. Her teaching areas included American Literature, short fiction history and theory, and a signature workshop course in the University of Iowa's M.F.A. Program in Nonfiction. She now lives with her husband in Tennessee.