Michael McLaughlin is a three-time $17,000 California Arts Council grant recipient, Michael McLaughlin has worked for 25 years as an Artist-in-Residence at Atascadero State Hospital, a maximum security forensic facility, as a Contract Artist with the California Department of Corrections, with California Youth Authority, and as San Luis Obispo County Area Coordinator for California Poets in the Schools. A graduate of the University of Southern California's Master of Professional Writing program and founding editor of its literary journal, The Southern California Anthology, McLaughlin has written two novels, Western People Show Their Faces and Gang of One, and two chapbooks of poetry, Ped Xing and The Upholstery of Heaven. His poetry and prose have appeared in numerous publications. Originally from San Francisco, California, McLaughlin lives on California's Central Coast with his brilliant and beautiful wife. Selected Poet Laureate of San Luis Obispo County in 2003, McLaughlin runs the Central Coast's Live from the CORE poetry/performance series and is an Artist in Residence at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.