Deborah Jackson Taffa is the Director of the MFA CW at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Her memoir Whiskey Tender, HarperCollins, was named one of the most anticipated books in 2024 by Zibby Media. She has won fellowships from PEN America, MacDowell, Hedgebrook, Rona Jaffe, Tin House, A Public Space, Ellen Meloy, and the NY State Summer Writers Institute. She earned her MFA in Iowa City, and her writing can be found in Salon, Best of Brevity, LARB, The Best Nonrequired Reading, etc. She comes from the Kwaatsan (Yuma) Nation and Laguna Pueblo and edits River Styx Literary Magazine.