Benjamin Percy was born in the high desert of Central Oregon. He is the author of a novel, The Wilding (forthcoming from Graywolf Press in 2010), and two books of stories, Refresh, Refresh (Graywolf Press, 2007) and The Language of Elk (Carnegie Mellon, 2006). His fiction and nonfiction have been read on National Public Radio, performed at Symphony Space, and published by Esquire, Men's Journal, Outside, the Paris Review, Orion, Tin House, Glimmer Train, Ploughshares, and many other magazines and journals. His honors include the Whiting Award, the Plimpton Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories. His story "Refresh, Refresh" was adapted into a graphic novel -- co-authored by filmmaker James Ponsoldt and illustrated by Eisner-nominated artist Danica Novgorodoff -- that First Second Books (a division of Macmillan) published in 2009. He teaches in the MFA program in creative writing and environment at Iowa State University.