Kurtis R. Schaeffer is the Frances Myers Ball Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. He is a student of the literary history and culture of Tibet, with a particular interest in poetry, life writing, narrative, and contemplative literature from across the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ plateau. His books includeÌýHimalayan Hermitess: The Life of a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Buddhist Nun;ÌýThe Culture of the Book in Tibet, and (with Matthew Kapstein and Gray Tuttle)ÌýSources of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Tradition, which is the largest anthology of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Buddhist literature in translation to date. Most recently he publishedÌýThe Life of the BuddhaÌýin the Penguin Classics series,Ìýwhich includes a translation of a beautiful Bhutanese story of the Buddha from Bhutan’s golden age of literature. He is currently finishing a translation of select works of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ meditation literature, also for the Penguin Classics series.