About the Author: Oliver Mayer is an Associate Professor with tenure at the USC School of Dramatic Arts, and the author of nearly 30 plays, including his newest The Sinner From Toledo, adapted from a short story by Chekhov. Other recent plays include Members Only, the sequel to his ground-breaking play Blade to the Heat; and Blood Match, inspired by the play Bodas de Sangre by Federico Garcia Lorca. Other plays include Fortune is a Woman, The Wallowa Project, Dias y Flores, Dark Matters, Conjunto, Young Valiant, Joy of the Desolate, Laws of Sympathy and Ragged Time. Mayer has also written the libretto for composer David Conte's opera America Tropical, as well as the words for We Are Joy, a piano concerto with choir by composer Jenni Brandon. Along with several collections of his published plays, Mayer wrote the children s book Big Dog On Campus Learns to be a Trojan, and its follow-up Big Dog On Campus Goes to the Library (Figueroa Press) with illustrations by Patricia Rae. At USC, he has received several university honors including the 2015 Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching, and a Mellon Mentoring Award for mentoring undergraduates. This is his first published volume of poems.