Brian Turner served seven years in the US Army. He was an infantry team leader for a year in Iraq with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. Prior to that, he deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina with the 10th Mountain Division (1999–2000). Turner is the author of a memoir, My Life as a Foreign Country, and two collections of poetry, Here, Bullet and Phantom Noise. He is the recipient of the Poet’s Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the NEA, USA Artists, and the Amy Lowell Traveling Fellowship. He curates The Kiss series for Guernica and he is the founding director of the MFA program at Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe.