Raised in Upstate New York, ANNA BURKE graduated from Smith College in 2012 with degrees in English Literature and Studio Art. She holds a certificate from the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa; and was the inaugural recipient of the Sandra Moran Scholarship for the Golden Crown Literary Society's Writing Academy. Anna's debut novel, Compass Rose, was written while living on a small island in the West Indies, but Thorn is the product of a cold New England winter.