Bet­sy Lern­er is the author of Bridge Ladies, The For­est for the Trees, and Food and Loathing. She received an MFA from Colum­bia Uni­ver­si­ty in Poet­ry and was the recip­i­ent of a Thomas Wolfe Poet­ry Prize, an Acad­e­my of Amer­i­can Poets Poet­ry Prize, and was one of PEN’s Emerg­ing Writ­ers. She also received the Tony God­win Pub­lish­ing Prize for Edi­tors Under 35. After work­ing as an edi­tor for 15 years, she became an agent and is cur­rent­ly a part­ner with Dunow, Carl­son & Lern­er Lit­er­ary Agency.