I am a late-bloomer. I went back to school at age fifty for my MFA in poetry at New England College while teaching English Composition at Westfield State. I’m still there teaching Creative Writing, and I taught Poetry for Lesley University’s MFA program for several years. Before that, I had four other lives, trying to navigate two bad marriages and a subsequent life as a single parent, moving north from New York to Connecticut. For a few years I tried my hand at being a singer-songwriter, writing about twenty-five original songs (I sing and play guitar) and making a CD in 1998. That was a good year for me. I moved from Connecticut to Massachusetts, found work as a teacher and met my husband Gary, who is still with me after twenty-eight years and I think I may let him stay a few more. I have two grown daughters and a stepson, and a wonderful twelve-year-old grandson.

I grew up in Manhattan and Westchester County, New York, where I played violin in school and studied guitar. In addition to my MFA in Creative Writing, I have a degree in French Literature and one in Bilingual and Elementary Education. I am a singer as well, and have performed in musical theater, in choirs, coffee houses and at festivals. I have four full-length published books of poetry, the most recent from Kelsay Books, Pocketing the Light, should be out this fall. The others are from Salmon Poetry in Ireland. Reach out to me on Facebook or at thepoetrynews@gmail.com.