Eric Nelson taught writing and literature courses for twenty-six years at Georgia Southern University, where he received the Ruffin Cup in 2009 for sustained excellence in teaching, publishing, and service. He retired, professor emeritus, in 2015, and moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches part time in the Great Smokies Writing Program at the University of North Carolina Asheville. His six previous poetry collections include Terrestrials, chosen by Maxine Kumin for the X.J. Kennedy Award; The Interpretation of Waking Life, winner of the University of Arkansas Poetry Award, and Some Wonder, which won the 2015 Gival Press Poetry Award.