Kim Zupan is a native Montanan who grew up in and around Great Falls, where much of his novel The Ploughmen is set. Winner of the 2014 Montana Book Award, The Ploughmen was released by Holt and has been published through Harper Collins Canada and by Picador in the United Kingdom, as well as translated into French, German and Korean. His stories have appeared in Epoch and Big Sky Journal and have been anthologized in Where We Live, Hunting’s Best Short Stories, The New Montana Story and The Best of Montana’s Short Fiction. For twenty-five years Zupan made a living as a carpenter while pursuing his writing. He has also worked as a smelterman, pro rodeo bareback rider, ranch hand, Alaska salmon fisherman and until recently taught carpentry at Missoula College UM.  He holds an MFA from the University of Montana.