Cate Dicharry graduated in 2003 from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, with a BA in political science. Cate moved to China to teach English at Dalian Nationalities University and discovered a love for creative writing. Cate went on to earn an MFA in creative writing from the Low Residency Program at the University of California, Riverside. Cate lives in Iowa City with her husband and two young sons. The Fine Art of F---ing Up is her first novel.

Kate M. Conlow is the deputy managing editor at The Iowa Review. She is the founder of the University of Iowa Prison Writing Project, the volunteer coordinator of the Oakdale Voice newspaper at Oakdale Prison, and is actively engaged in issues concerning her community, particularly women's rights and justice reform.

Megan Gogerty teaches dramatic literature and dramaturgy at the University of Iowa. An award-winning playwright and performer, her work has been produced nationally and abroad. She received the Jerome Fellowship for playwriting before earning her MFA at the University of Texas at Austin. She has served as playwright-in-residence at Dartington College of the Arts (U.K.), the South Carolina Governor's School for Performing Arts, and Coe College.