Deirdre McNamer is the author of the novels Rima in the Weeds, One Sweet Quarrel, My Russian and Red Rover, which was named a Best Book of 2007 by Artforum, The Washington Post and the LA Times. She recently chaired the panel of judges for the National Book Award in fiction. Her stories and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, Ploughshares, Doubletake, New York Times opinion page and elsewhere. McNamer teaches graduate and undergraduate writing workshops, and a graduate course in techniques.