Barry Targan was an American author of short stories, novels, and poetry. He was born in the Bronx, New York, on May 29, 1932. He was a professor of English and creative writing at Skidmore College from 1968 until his retirement in 1996. He won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction in 1978 and the Associated Writing Programs Award for Short Fiction in 1982. He passed away on January 16, 2011.