Aimee Bender:
(born June 28, 1969).
American novelist and short story writer, known for her surreal stories and characters. She is a 2011 recipient of the Alex Awards.
Born to a Jewish family, Bender received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at San Diego, and a Master of Fine Arts from the creative writing MFA program at University of California at Irvine. While at UCI she studied with Judith Grossman and Geoffrey Wolff. She received ArtsBridge scholarships and worked with mentor Keith Fowler to create writing programs for K-12 students in Orange County, California. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Southern California where she served as Director of the USC PhD in Creative Writing & Literature from 2012 to 2015. In the past, she taught a class in surrealist writing at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and was a senior artist at the non-profit theater workshop The Imagination Workshop, helping mentally ill and at-risk individuals write, direct and act in their own theatrical creations. She has named Oscar Wilde, Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm and Anne Sexton as influences on her writing. A native of Los Angeles, Bender is a close friend of fellow UCI alumna Alice Sebold. Her sister is novelist and short story writer Karen Bender.
It was the second week in March. The magnolia trees had already bloomed, and tulips, daffodils, and wildflowers were shooting up all around the convent’s gardens.
