Bette How­land was born in 1937, in a work­ing-class Jew­ish neigh­bor­hood on Chicago’s west side. Her first book, W‑3, was pub­lished in 1974. She is also the author of Blue in Chica­go (1978) and Things to Come and Go (1983), both of which were edit­ed by Gor­don Lish. She received a Guggen­heim Fel­low­ship in 1978, and a MacArthur Fel­low­ship in 1984. She passed away Decem­ber 13, 2017.