BARRY GIFFORD was born in Chicago in 1946. The author of more than forty published works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, which have been translated into twenty-eight languages, Gifford began as a poet and musician. His most recent prose works are Sailor & Lula: The Complete Novels, Sad Stories of the Death of Kings, and Memories from a Sinking Ship: A Novel. His most recent poetry collection is Imagining Paradise: New and Selected Poems (2012). Gifford lives in the San Francisco area and maintains a website at www.barrygifford.com.