Jervey Tervalon was born in New Orleans and raised in Los Angeles. He received his MFA from UC Irvine. He is the author of five books including Understanding This that won the New Voice’s Award, and the bestselling Dead Above Ground which won PEN Oakland’s Award for Multicultural writing. Honors include: Remsen Bird Writer in Residence at Occidental college and a Disney Writing Fellow; Discover New Writers 1994; Honorable Mention, Pushcart Prize, 1996; Gold Crown Award from Pasadena Arts Council, 1994; California Arts Fellowship, 2003. NEA Panelist for Small Presses, 2006; LA Press Club Awards: Signed Commentary, 1st Place for “The Slow Death of a Chocolate City.” He teaches at the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara and is the director of the Literature for Life Project; a literary/salon magazine; and is the literary director of LitFest Pasa dena. His newest novel, Monster’s Chef was published by Amistad Books at Harper Collins in June, 2014.