Jeffery Renard Allen is the author of the novel Rails Under My Back, which won The Chicago Tribune's Heartland Prize for Fiction, and the collection of poems Harbors and Spirits. Born and raised in Chicago, he now lives in New York City, where he is an associate professor of English at Queens College and an instructor in the graduate writing program at The New School. His forthcoming books include a second collection of poetry, Stellar Places, and a short novel, Radar Country.