NAOMI BENARON holds an MFA and a Master of Science degree in earth sciences, is a certified orthopedic massage therapist and an Ironman triathlete, teaches online for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, and works with the Afghan Women’s Writing Project online and with African refugees in Arizona. She has won a number of literary prizes for her work, including the G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction, and the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition.