Lynna Williams, associate professor of English/Creative Writing, came to Emory in 1990, the first year an English/Creative Writing major was available to Emory students. She earned a BJ from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, working first as a reporter in Texas, and then as a reporter and political speechwriter in Minnesota. She received an MFA in fiction from George Mason University in 1990. Her short fiction has been published in The Atlantic Monthly, The Oxford American, Lear's, and Crab Orchard Review. Her short fiction has been included five times in the annual "100 Best Short Stories" list in the anthology, Best American Short Stories; the story, "Sole Custody," was nominated by The Atlantic for the National Magazine Award in Fiction. Her first collection, Things Not Seen and Other Stories, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her essays have won prizes from The Chattahoochee Review and The Bellingham Review. She is a frequent book reviewer for the Chicago Tribune. She is at work on a second collection of stories and a book of essays.