John D’Agata is the author of Halls of Fame, About a Mountain, and, with Jim Fingal, The Lifespan of a Fact which was adapted into a Broadway play in 2018. He is also the editor the three-volume series A New History of the Essay. His work has been supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Howard Foundation Fellowship, an NEA Literature Fellowship, and a Lannan Foundation Fellowship. He holds a BA from Hobart College and two MFA's from the University of Iowa. D’Agata lives in Iowa City where he teaches creative writing at the University of Iowa and directs the graduate Nonfiction Writing Program.