Susan Schorn writes Bitchslap, a column on women and fighting, for McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Her memoir Smile at Strangers, and Other Lessons in the Art of Living Fearlessly was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2013; she published the short story collection Small Heroes in 2014. She holds a Ph.D in Victorian Literature, a first-degree black belt in Kyokushin karate, a second-degree black belt in Seido karate, and national certification as an Emergency Medical Technician, a combination of skills that she feels ought to make her more popular at parties. She also coordinates the disciplinary writing program at the University of Texas at Austin.