Born in Saigon and raised on Boston’s northshore, Quan Barry is the Lorraine Hansberry Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Barry is the author of eight books of fiction and poetry, including When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East, which follows a group of Buddhist monks as they search for a reincarnation in the vast Mongolian landscape. O: Oprah Magazine described her second novel, We Ride Upon Sticks, as, “Spellbinding, wickedly fun.” Barry is currently Forward Theater’s first ever Writer-in-Residence. Her play, The Mytilenean Debate, had its world premiere in spring of 2022. Barry is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Samples of her plays can be found at New Play Exchange. In addition to several awards including a 2021 Alex Award from the American Library Association, Barry is one of a select group of writers who have received NEA fellowships in both poetry and fiction.