Bret Shepard grew up in villages on the North Slope of Alaska. He is the recipient of awards and fellowships from Saint Mary’s College, where he completed his MFA, and the University of Nebraska, where he completed his PhD. He is the author of Place Where Presence Was, winner of the Moon City Press Book Award, as well as two chapbooks, including The Territorial, which won the Midwest Chapbook Award from the Laurel Review. He currently lives outside of Philadelphia and teaches at Goldey-Beacom College.