Machael Garriga comes from a long line of Creole outlaws and storytellers. He has worked as a shrimp picker, a bartender, and a soundman in a blues bar. The Book of Duels is his first collection of fiction, but his work has appeared extensively in journals and magazines including Esquire, Huffington Post, New Letters, Black Warrior Review, and the Southern Review. He currently teaches writing at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio.