Choctaw tribal member J. Todd Hawkins is a poet and visual artist living in Texas. He earned a BA in English and psychology from the University of Texas, studied Shakespeare at Oxford University, and earned an MA in technical communication from Texas Tech University.  He is the author of Ten Counties Away (Finishing Line Press, 2017). His poetry has appeared in many publications, among them AGNI, Rattle Poets Respond, American Literary Review, Poets Reading the News, The Louisville Review, Bayou Magazine, and The Bitter Oleander.  Hawkins works as the senior editor of an education publishing company. When not writing, he helps lead Johnson County’s largest Cub Scout pack, coaches a soccer team of hyperactive first-grade girls called the Honeybees, and nightly loses to his wife at Mortal Kombat once the kids finally fall asleep. Discover more at www.jtoddhawkins.com.