Carla Jean Mayer is a writer, educator, and artist who, in 2015, returned to writing after a 25-year hiatus. She’s worked for Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District, and continues to play an active role in the Chicago Torture Justice movement that helped secure historic reparations for survivors of police torture. She has an MFA in writing from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College, and splits her time between Chicago and rural Michigan.