Julene Bair is the author of two works of nonfiction, The Ogallala Road and One Degree West, which the Chicago Tribune described as “an achingly beautiful elegy.” Julene has received the Women Writing the West Award, a Bakeless Prize, the Glasgow Award, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“I returned to school during the latter half of my third decade. At that age, I no longer took learning for granted. Just approaching the nondescript English Philosophy Building each day filled me with gratitude and awe. Imagine, an entire building dedicated to words and ideas. Then to think that, within that building, some of the most distinguished essayists and scholars of the essay took my words and  ideas seriously? My self-respect grew out of my teachers’ respect for me. So did my awareness of my own potential and my willingness to work tirelessly fulfilling it.”