Originally from Pittsburgh, Jackie Bartley learned survival swimming in the pools, lakes, and rivers of Western Pennsylvania. She now lives in Holland, Michigan, near the Lake Michigan shoreline and teaches writing part-time at Hope College. She can still tread water for long periods of time. She writes to turn down the static and listen to what’s happening below the surface—and because it’s such a rush when something surprising, artful, maybe even well-made happens in the process.

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