Ayana Mathis is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a recipient of the 2014-15 New York Public Library’s Cullman Center Fellowship. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, her first novel, was a New York Times Bestseller, a 2013 New York Times Notable Book of the Year, one of NPR’s Best Books of 2013, and was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as the second selection for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0. Mathis taught creative writing at The Writer’s Foundry MFA Program at St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn. She is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.