Shelley Puhak is a poet and essayist. She is the author of two award-winning books of poetry, Guinevere in Baltimore and Stalin in Aruba. Her essays have been selected as Notables in Best American Essays 2016 and 2017 and reprinted in Best American Travel Writing 2017. Her work has recently appeared in The Atlantic, Black Warrior Review, Creative Nonfiction, The Iowa Review, and Salon. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband and son.