Joseph Bathanti, born and raised in Pittsburgh, is a professor of creative writing at Appalachian State University as well as the former poet laureate of North Carolina. He is the author of eight books of poetry and three novels, including Coventry, winner of the 2006 Novello Literary Award, and his collection of personal essays, Half of What I Say Is Meaningless, earned the 2012 Will D. Campbell Award for Creative Nonfiction. His newest novel, The Life of the World to Come, was published in 2014 by the University of South Carolina Press.