About René Steinke

René Steinke’s novel, Friendswood (Riverhead), was named one of National Public Radio’s "Great Reads.” Friendswood was shortlisted for the St. Francis College Literary Prize for mid-career authors, and it was an Amazon Book of the Month. Her previous novel, Holy Skirts, an imaginative retelling of the life of the artist and provocateur, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, was a Finalist for the National Book Award. Her first novel is The Fires. She is the recipient of a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Her essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, O Magazine, Redbook, Houstonia, Salon, Bookforum, and in anthologies. She is the former Editor of The Literary Review, where she remains Editor-at-Large. She is currently a Professor of Creative Writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She lives in Brooklyn.