Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime About the Author Stephen Alter is the author of fifteen works of fiction and non-fiction. His honours include a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright award. He was writer-in-residence for ten years at MIT and directed the writing program at the American University in Cairo. He is founding director of the Mussoorie Writers’ Mountain Festival. He lives with his wife in Mussoorie.