I was born and raised in Lima, Ohio, a place that allowed my vivid imagination to wander through the cornfields and natural landscapes.  I came to poetry early in life when my father read me poems at bedtime.  He also recounted about reading poetry to the other wounded soldiers in the army hospitals of World War II, which fed my interest in the power of poetry.  I have honed my craft while working for the last 30 years as a legal secretary. 

In addition to poetry, I have pursued artistic endeavors as an adult student of modern dance at Dance Place and ballet at Washington Ballet School.  I continue to feed that passion every year at the Noyes School of Rhythm in Connecticut. 

My first book, After Enchantment, was inspired by beloved fairy tale characters.  My poetry has appeared most recently in Poetry X Hunger, Washington Writers Publishing House, The Southern Quill, Blue Heron Review, The MidAtlantic Review, as well as The Orchards Press, Burgeon Press, About Place Journal, Gargoyle, Truth to Power, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Little Patuxent Review, The Sligo Journal, Silver Birch Press, Tidal Basin Review, and other journals. Her work is also included in the anthologies Poetic Art, Enchantment of the Ordinary, and Dear Vaccine: Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic.

I have been a featured poet at Sunday Kind of Love, as well as a regular at the open mic.  Additionally, I have featured on multiple occasions at La-Ti-Do, Takoma Park Third Thursday, The Reach at the Kennedy Center, and at venues in Ohio, Texas, and Louisiana.

I served as a reader for the Split This Rock Annual Poetry Contest and as a judge for the Parkmont Poetry Festival, both housed in DC.  In addition to writing and reading poetry, I have taught workshops for Split this Rock, as well as for BAWA/Brookland Arts.  I was Artist in Residence at the Noyes School of Rhythm for two years, where I blended writing workshops with movement and visual art. 

I currently serve on the Board of Directors for the Noyes School Foundation.  I previously served on the Board of Directors for Split This Rock, and as its co-chair for 5 year, bringing poetry and activism to many people across the country.  I also served as the President of the Brookland Community Cooperative Association, during the time we opened a member-owned, cooperative full-service grocery in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, DC.