Lauren Kalstad is a poet, essayist, and Lecturer at the University of North Texas
where she also received her BA in Creative Writing with a minor in French. She went
on to attend New York University in Paris receiving her MFA with a concentration in
poetry. Her works have appeared in publications including Thimble Literary Magazine, The Orchards Poetry Journal, Querencia, World Literature Today, and she was a semifinalist for the Crab Creek Review Poetry Prize. Her love of the culinary world led to a freelance career in food journalism
with articles published in EATER and Edible. She is the author of the children's book, To the Stars in Bumper Cars (2020).
Courses at UNT include First-Year Writing, Native American Literature, and World Literature
with the theme "Murder, Madness, & Morbid Curiosity," a survey of dark-themed lit
spanning from 429 B.C. to present. She is the faculty advisor for the North Texas Review, a creative writing, arts, and music publication that showcases the talent of undergraduate
students across the country.