Allison Amend is a graduate of Stanford University and the Iowa Writer's Workshop. She is the author of the award-winning short story collection Things That Pass for Loveand the novels A Nearly Perfect Copy and Stations West, which was a finalist for the 2011 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the Oklahoma Book Award. Her most recent book, Enchanted Islands, was longlisted for the International Dublin Award. Allison teaches creative writing at Lehman College.