Cat Pleska is an author, editor, educator, publisher, and storyteller. She often leads writing workshops in the community and is an essayist for West Virginia Public Radio, and a book reviewer for West Virginia University Press. She edited the anthology Fed from the Blade: Tales and Poems from the Mountains (Woodland Press 2012), and her first book, Riding on Comets: a Memoir was published by West Virginia University Press May 2015. Riding on Comets was short listed for the 2015 book of the year in the memoir category by Foreword Magazine. Cat is the 2016 recipient of the Governor’s Arts Award for Support of the Arts. Her cookbook, One Foot in the Gravy—Hooked on the Sauce: Recipes You’ll Relish was published by Mountain State Press in April 2017. She is working on a novel, a collection of short stories, and a collection of essays. She holds an MFA from Goucher College in Baltimore (2004), as well as an MA in Humanities (1998) and a BA in English (writing emphasis, 1994). She teaches in the graduate humanities program for Marshall University and is a full time Instructor for Arizona State University’s Master of Liberal Studies Program.