Melanie Rae Thon is an American author of novels and short stories. Originally from Kalispell, Montana, Thon received her BA from the University of Michigan and her MA from Boston University. Her writing has been published inย The Best American Short Stories, the Pushcart Prizeย anthologies, Theย O. Henry Prize Stories,ย Grantaโsย Best of Young American Novelists,ย Conjunctions, Tin House,ย andย the Paris Review.ย Thon is a recipient of the Whiting Writersโ Award, the Reading the West Book Award, and the Gina Berriault Award, as well as two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and one from the Tanner Humanities Center. She has also been a writer in residence at the Lannan Foundation.ย Thonโs works have been translated into nine languages. She lives in Salt Lake City and teaches at the University of Utah.