Geoff Rips is a journalist and a poet who works for Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid. He is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the PEN American Center, a former editor of the Texas Observer, and a former Soros Open Society Institute fellow. He worked as the Freedom-to-Write Committee coordinator for the PEN American Center and was the principal author of its report, UnAmerican Activities. His 2008 novel, The Truth, received the Associated Writing Program Award. He lives in Austin, Texas.