JILL MCCORKLE has the distinction of having published her first two novels on the same day in 1984. The New York Times Book Review wrote: “One suspects the author of The Cheer Leader is a born novelist. With July 7th, she is also a full-grown one.” McCorkle has since published five other novels – most recently, Hieroglyphics: A Novel (Algonquin Books) – and four collections of short stories. Five of her books have been named to the NYT’s “Notable Books,” and four of her stories have appeared in The Best American Short Stories. McCorkle is a recipient of a New England Independent Booksellers Association award, the John Dos Passos Prize for Excellence in Literature, the North Carolina Award for Literature, and the Thomas Wolfe Prize. She was also recently inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. McCorkle has taught at Harvard University, Brandeis University, and North Carolina State University, where she remains affiliated with the MFA program in creative writing. She is a core faculty member of the Bennington College Writing Seminars.