HARRYETTE MULLEN is the author of eight books of poetry, including Urban Tumbleweed: Notes from a Tanka Diary; Recyclopedia: Trimmings, S*PeRM**K*T, and Muse & Drudge; and Sleeping with the Dictionary, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is professor of English and African American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.