Jiro Adachi earned his Master of Fine Arts in fiction at Colorado State University and his BA from Columbia University. His novel, The Island of Bicycle Dancers, was published by St. Martin's in 2004. To create the novel's portrait of bicycle messengers and immigrants in New York city, Adachi used his experiences as a bicycle messenger and as a teacher of English as a Second Language. He is a member of the faculty at The New School and has taught writing and English as a Second Language at Colorado State University, Hunter College, and Stern College for Women.