Cathleen Miller was born in the United States but has traveled widely in pursuit of research, adventure, and experience. Her work sometimes places her in strange circumstances, for example cruising St. Petersburg in a Winnebago to interview prostitutes, and running down a Brazilian mountain at midnight fleeing bandits. At San Jose State University, she taught courses in creative nonfiction writing and literature, and served as editor-in-chief of Reed Magazine, California's oldest literary journal. In 2018, Cathleen received the honor of being appointed as the Distinguished Chair of the Humanities at the University of Manchester, serving as a Fulbright Scholar to the United Kingdom, where she now lives.