Biography

Laura Chester has published many volumes of poetry, prose and non-fiction, most recently, her book of short stories, Rancho Weirdo, Bootstrap Press; Holy Personal, looking for small private places of worship, Indiana University Press, and a selection of prose-poems, Sparks, published by The Figures. Station Hill Press released an updated version of Lupus Novice, an account of Chester's personal struggle and breakthrough with the auto-immune disease SLE, while Black Sparrow Press published three of Chester's early books of fiction. Other novels include The Story of the Lake, Faber & Faber; and Kingdom Come, Creative Arts Book Company. Chester has edited five important literary anthologies, including Rising Tides, 20th Century American Women Poets, Simon & Schuster; Deep Down and Cradle & All, both from Faber, The Unmade Bed, HarperCollins; Eros & Equus and Heartbeat for Horses, Willow Creek Press. Riding Barranca, will be available from Trafalgar Square Books, spring 2013.  Having grown up in Wisconsin, lived in Albuquerque, Paris, and Berkeley, she now travels between Patagonia, Arizona and the Berkshires of Massachusetts.