Ben Nickol was raised in Idaho and attended the University of Arkansas and the University of Notre Dame, where he played basketball for the Fighting Irish. His prose has been recognized by the Arkansas Arts Council, Best American Sports Writing, and the University of Arkansas, among other organizations, and he’s the author, most recently, of Sun River: Stories (Black Lawrence Press), which The Quivering Pen named a Best Book of 2019. Additionally, Ben’s stories and essays have appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Boulevard, Fourth Genre, Crab Orchard Review, Redivider, Fugue, Tin House Online, The Greensboro Review, CutBank and elsewhere. Since 2018, he’s taught in the M.F.A. program at Wichita State University.