Evan Balkan lives in Towson, Maryland with his wife and dog, and is the proud father of two daughters, both of whom are college students. He plays and referees soccer, and is pretty sure that heaven must be a well-manicured soccer pitch. When not playing soccer or writing, Evan likes to travel. He's been to more than 35 different countries, most recently Chile, Bolivia, Finland, and Estonia (his favorites remain Peru and Iceland). Please note: Evan is available for author readings and lectures; he has appeared in many venues, including radio and television, and loves nothing more than speaking to groups. Workshop topics include travel writing, screenwriting, writing biography and profile, publishing and more generalized writing.

And now, the more boring stuff:

Evan Balkan has published seven books of nonfiction (plus The Castaway’s Tale: Robert Drury, Daniel Defoe and the Story That Has Linked Them for 300 Years, forthcoming in 2025), three novels, and many essays and short stories. His screenplays have won multiple awards and fellowships. He is a co-writer for the film Wayward Girls and writer of the biopic I'm Possible, about Richard White, the first African-American to earn a doctorate in tuba instruction. He coordinates the Creative Writing program at the Community College of Baltimore County, where he was awarded the college's first ever endowed teaching chair. He is also the faculty editor of the nationally award-winning Fine Print literary magazine and is the founder of Compass Press, the only university-style press housed at a community college in the United States. He holds degrees from Towson, George Mason, and Johns Hopkins universities.