Richard McCann is the author of Mother of Sorrows (Pantheon Books, April 2005) and Ghost Letters (1994 Beatrice Hawley Award, 1994 Capricorn Poetry Award). He is also the editor (with Michael Klein) of Things Shaped in Passing: More 'Poets for Life' Writing from the AIDS Pandemic. His work has appeared in such magazines as The Atlantic, Ms., Esquire, and Tin House, and in numerous anthologies, including Best American Essays 2000 and The Penguin Book of Gay Short Stories. He lives in Washington, D.C.