Stephanie Powell Watts is primarily a writer and teacher of both fiction and creative nonfiction. Her classes are designed to introduce students to the writing life by exposing them to the works of many of the leading practitioners of contemporary writing. Students are encouraged to practice the art of writing by sharing their own creative works in classroom workshops, lectures, public performances and service and experiential learning assignments. Stephanie received her PhD from the University of Missouri, where she was a Gus T. Ridgel fellow. Stephanie's short fiction, essays and poems have appeared in a number of journals including Oxford American, New Letters, African American Review, Tartts IV, Tampa Review, Obsidian III and has been anthologized in the 2008 Pushcart anthology and New Stories from the South 2007 and 2009. Her collection of short fiction, We Are Taking Only What We Need was published by BkMk press in December 2011. Praise for We Are Taking Only What We Need Publishers Weekly calls the collection "a strong debut" that "demands tribute" Booklist calls the collection "striking" "witty" "accomplished" and Powell Watts a "talent to watch" Writer Marly Swick says "each story seems at the same time to be a breath of fresh air and an instant classic" Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Known World Edward P. Jones calls the collection "an impressive debut that promises only wonderful work to come" Writer Alyce Miller says the stories "leap from the page . . . as I read I found myself holding my breath."