Ariel Balter earned a BA in psychology from Bryn Mawr College and an MA and PhD in English from Tufts University. Over the past 15 years she has taught English and writing at various universities, colleges, and high schools, presented papers at academic conferences, and published several academic essays, including an article on Edith Wharton and one on James Weldon Johnson. Her memoir, The Maternity Labyrinth, published in August 2010, is her first work of creative nonfiction. Ms. Balter is currently working on a novel.