GERTRUDE STEIN was born in 1874 and died in 1946. An American writer who spent most of her life in France, she was a catalyst in the development of modern literature and art. Stein was the author of more than 25 books of experimental writing, many of which were self-published. Tender Buttons was her second published work, and set the foundation for not only her own oeuvre, but for generations of writers to come. She never visited Canada.
STEVE MCCAFFERY is the author of around 40 books of poetry and criticism published variously in Canada, England, and the United States, McCaffery was a founding member of the sound poetry ensemble Four Horsemen, and a founding theorist of Language Poetry. He has published three previous titles with Book*hug: a revised second edition of Panopticon, The Basho Variations, and Every Way Oakly. He is the two-time recipient of the Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Writing, and was shortlisted twice for the Governor General's Award in Poetry. He lives and teaches in Buffalo, NY, where he is the David Gray Professor of Poetry and Letters at the State University at Buffalo.