Vauhini Vara is the author of This is Salvaged, named one of the most anticipated books of the year by Lithub, Electric Literature, and The Millions, and The Immortal King Rao, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize. She is also a journalist, writing for Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and others. She teaches at Colorado State University as a 2023-24 Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop's Book Project. She is also the secretary of Periplus, a mentorship collective serving writers of color. She lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with her husband, the writer Andrew Altschul, and their son.