Juliet Patterson is the author of The Truant Lover (Nightboat Books) and Threnody (forthcoming, Jackleg Press). Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines including 26, American Letters & Commentary, Crazyhorse, Indiana Review, Knockout, New Orleans Review, Pebble Lake Review, Redivider, Swerve, Water~Stone Review, and Verse. Her recent awards are a 2011 Arts & Letters Susan Atefat Prize in Non-Fiction, the 2010 Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Minneapolis-based Institute for Community and Cultural Development. Patterson edits poetry for Konundrum Engine Literary Review, teaches through Hamline University and Saint Catherine University and also works as a grant writer specializing in renewable energy projects. As a community activist and teaching artist, she has worked with the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Whittier International School, United Cambodian Association of Minnesota, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, and Pathways Health Crisis Resource Center. She currently volunteers with Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTS), a non-advocacy group that works to strengthen communities by supporting energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. She lives in Minneapolis with her partner and son near the west bank of the Mississippi and the Great River Road that stretches from Canada to the Gulf.