As a part of the Brooklyn Rail’s continuing series on writers and teaching, Erinne Dobson recently spoke with acclaimed poet and biographer Robert Polito, who has been the director of the writing program at the New School since 1992.

Matthew Sharpe is the author of Stories From the Tube, a short-story collection, and Nothing Is Terrible, a novel, both published by Villard. His breakout novel, The Sleeping Father, was published last winter by Soft Skull Press and quickly won him accolades, including being made a Today Show selection.