Harryette Mullen is an experimental poet, short story writer, and literary scholar. She has published five collections of poetry, and her most recent, Sleeping with the Dictionary, was one of five finalists for the 2002 National Book Award in Poetry. In her work she uses the vernacular and samples fragments from written and spoken discourse (such as puns and clichés) in rhythmic, almost musical ways. She employs humor and wordplay to comment upon contemporary social issues such as globalization.