Karen E. Bender is the author of two story collections—Refund, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Story Prize, and longlisted for the Story Prize—and The New Order, longlisted for the Story Prize. A third collection, The Words of Dr. L & Other Stories, will be published in May 2025. Her stories have been published in magazines including The New Yorker, Granta, The Yale Review, The Harvard Review, Ploughshares, and Zoetrope, and have been anthologized in Best American Short Stories and Best American Mystery Stories. They have won three Pushcart Prizes. She has taught for the MFA programs at Hollins University, Warren Wilson College, and Chatham University, and currently teaches for the MFA programs at SUNY Stony Brook and Alma College. She also teaches for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival online and for WritingWorkshops.com. Her website is http://www.karenebender.com.