Gayle Brandeis grew up in the Chicago area and has been writing poems and stories since she was four years old. She is the author of many titles, including Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write , the novel The Book of Dead Birds , which won Barbara Kingsolver’s Bellwether Prize for Fiction of Social Engagement. Her latest, Many Restless Concerns: The Victims of Countess Bathory Speak in Chorus was published by Black Lawrence Press and is now available. Oleta Bryson presents a