DONNA HEMANS is the author of The House of Plain Truth (Zibby Books), River Woman, and Tea By the Sea, which won the Lignum Vitae Una Marson Award. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Electric Literature, Ms., and Crab Orchard Review, among others. She is also the owner of DC Writers Room, a co-working studio for writers based in Washington, D.C. Born in Jamaica, she lives in Maryland and received her undergraduate degree in English and media studies from Fordham University, and an MFA from American University.