Barb Howard is a former lawyer who is the author of the short story collection Western Taxidermy and the novel Whipstock. She has also written the novella Notes for Monday (Recliner) and the young adult novel The Dewpoint Show (Fitzhenry & Whiteside). Her short stories have won several awards and contests and have been published in literary periodicals across Canada. She has been shortlisted 4 times for Alberta literary awards, including twice in 2012, and won the 2009 Writers' Guild of Alberta Howard O'Hagan award for short story. Barb is co-editor of the anthology of literary essays Embedded on the Home Front: Where Military and Civilian Lives Converge (Heritage House). Barb lives in Bragg Creek, Alberta.