Kendra Atleework is interested deserts, mountains, words, and journeys. Born and raised beneath the Sierra Nevada mountains in the high desert of California, she’s lately followed the muse to the Black Forest. She holds an MFA from the University of Minnesota. Her first book, Miracle Country, was highlighted by The New York Times’ “Books that Explain California” and won the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award, among others. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Best American Essays, and elsewhere. Her second book, currently in progress, will engage landscape and story in a completely different way.