The author of more than forty works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, which have been translated into over twenty-five languages,ย BARRY GIFFORDย writes distinctly American stories for readers around the globe. From screenplays and librettos to his acclaimed Sailor and Lula novels, Giffordโs writing is as distinctive as it is difficult to classify. Born in the Seneca Hotel on Chicagoโs Near North Side, he relocated in his adolescence to New Orleans. The move proved significant: throughout his career, Giffordโs fictionโpart-noir, part-picaresque, always entertainingโis born of the clash between what he has referred to as his โNorthern Sideโ and โSouthern Side.โ Gifford has been recipient of awards from PEN, the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America and the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. His novelย Wild at Heartย was adapted into the 1990 Palme dโOr-winning film of the same name. Gifford lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.