Kirk Curnutt's first novel, Breathing Out the Ghost, was named Best Fiction in the Indiana Center for the Book's 2008 Best Books of Indiana Competition. It also won a bronze IPPY from the Independent Publishers Association and was a finalist for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards. Among his other eleven books are the thriller Dixie Noir (2009; also a ForeWord finalist); Coffee with Hemingway (2007), an entry in Duncan Baird's series of imaginary conversations with great historical figures; and the story collection, Baby, Let's Make a Baby (2003). Forthcoming in late 2011 is Icons of Pop: Brian Wilson, a study of the Beach Boys mastermind from Equinox/Indiana University Press. The winner of the gold medal in nonfiction writing in the 2008 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition sponsored by the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Curnutt was previously awarded three consecutive Hackney Awards for short-story writing (2004-2006) and is past finalist for the Peter Taylor Prize/Tennessee Book Award. A passionate devotee of all things F. Scott Fitzgerald, he is vice-president of the International F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, managing editor of The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, and a board member of the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery. His website is www.kirkcurnutt.com.