Sean Thomas Dougherty is the author or editor of twenty books including his latest Death Prefers the Minor Keys from BOA Editions. His numerous awards also include The Paterson Poetry Prize, The James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, an Established Artist Fellowship for Northwest Pennsylvania, two Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Fellowships in Poetry, and a United States Fulbright Lectureship to the Balkans. Sean currently works as a writing mentor with the MFA program in creative writing at Western Connecticut State University, and as a Medical Technician and long-term caregiver for folks with traumatic brain injuries. He was the seventh official poet laureate of Erie County, Pennsylvania.