Sandy Hiortdahl is an academic, poet, and fiction writer. She is the recipient of the Sophie Kerr Prize, The Ghost Mountain Award, and several distinctions from Pen2Paper. She has a Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America and an MFA from George Mason University. She teaches at Northeast State Community College in East Tennessee. Her publications include a scholarly book, Grendel Recast in John Gardner’s Novel and Beowulf, and fiction and poetry in several journals. Hang Five is her first collection of poetry.