Joan Spilman received her MFA from Wichita State University where she was awarded the fellowship. She has published an Appalachian novel, Silver Bottle, which was a quarter finalist in the 2021 Booklife Awards, a novella entitled “Establishing Witness” and three children’s books about zombie ducks gathered under the general title The Waddling Dead. Her short stories have been published in many journals, including The Laurel Review, Carriage House Review, Short Story International, and Southern Humanities Review. She is the recipient of the George Garrett Award from Willow Springs, the annual fiction prize from Mikrokosmos, and a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award.