Raising the Barre

Lauren Kessler is an award-winning author and semi-fearless immersion reporter who combines lively narrative with deep research. She has explored everything from the gritty world of a maximum-security prison to the grueling world of professional ballet. She is the author of ten works of narrative nonfiction, including Raising the Barre, Clever Girl, and The Happy Bottom Riding Club. Her books have been BookSense selections, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times bestsellers, Wall Street Journal and People magazine "best" selections, Pacific Northwest Book Award winners, and Oregon Book Award winners. Her journalism has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times Magazine, O Magazine, salon.com, Utne Reader, the Nation, newsweek.com, Prevention, Ladies Home Journal, and elsewhere. Kessler is an international speaker and workshop leader. She founded a writers' group for inmates of a maximum-security prison, teaches storytelling for social change to nonprofits in the U.S. and abroad, and works with traditional journalists who want to hone their storytelling skills. She blogs at laurenchronicles.com about living an engaged life. She lives in Oregon.

Hollis McCarthy is an actor based in New York City, working in theater, film, TV, audiobooks, and voice-overs. Her many stage roles include appearances off-Broadway, at The Old Globe, and in Shakespeare festivals nationwide. On-camera roles include leads in independent films and appearances in episodes of The Good Wife, House of Cards, and feature films. She also loves to fight with swords.