Ben Cartwright is the author of After Our Departure (Sage Hill Press 2016), chosen by Nance Van Winckel as the winner of the Powder Horn Prize, and the poetry chapbook The Meanest Things Pick Clean (Floating Bridge Press, 2017). Raised in Spokane, Ben has also lived in Idaho, Kansas, and Tianjin, China. He earned his M.A. from Kansas State University, and his Ph.D. from The University of Kansas. His poetry and fiction has appeared in Seneca Review, West Branch, DIAGRAM, The Stinging Fly, and elsewhere. He currently lives in Spokane, WA where he is a professor at Spokane Falls Community College.