Mick Cochrane was born and raised in St. Paul, MN. He graduated with an English major from the University of St. Thomas and earned a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Minnesota. His first novel, Flesh Wounds, was published by Nan Talese/Doubleday and named a finalist in Barnes and Noble’s Discover Great New Writers Competition. His second novel, Sport, was published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s and selected for the annual New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age List.

His short stories have appeared in a number of literary magazines, including The Cincinnati Review, Northwest Review, Kansas Quarterly, and Water~stone. The Girl Who Threw Butterflies is his first book for young readers. He’s also published critical essays on Raymond Carver, Bob Dylan, baseball literature, and the art of biography, and he’s received grants from the Saltonstall Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Currently he is professor of English and Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College, where he has three times been named Peter Canisius Distinguished Teaching Professor.

He teaches courses in writing and literature, directs the creative writing program, and coordinates the Contemporary Writers Series. He lives in Kenmore, NY, with his wife and two sons.