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Ocarinas

Life Migrations:
Anita was born in Detroit, Michigan a long time ago and all she remembers of that portion of the city near 10 Mile Avenue is a chain link fence, an exciting abandoned lot and sparklers in the front yard for the 4th of July.  A terribly cruel first grade teacher kept her in from recess because she couldn't puzzle out the difference between "saw" and "was".  But, happily, she's worked that out since.

After Detroit she moved on to live in Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and finally, Washington where she makes her home in Issaquah, half way up the smallish mountain known as Squak Mountain, at the edge of the Cascades, but near enough to Seattle to catch a reading, a cup of coffee, listen to her favorite Balkan band or dance tango at the Century Ballroom with her husband, Nick.

They have three children, Matty, Katrina and Tasha, two of which are grown up and out in the world, with the third soon to join them. 

Work History:                                                         Anita was fired from her first full-time job as a secretary at the New England Conservatory of Music, probably because she still had some residual confusion about the matter of "saw" and "was".  For the most part, ever since then she has been self-employed as a potter making musical instruments out of clay, and as a writer making words out of music.

 

 

                 

Awards & Fellowships

 
bulletThe Backwaters Prize, 2005, for Sadie and Mendel
bulletWashington State GAP Award, 1998, creative nonfiction
bulletAndres Berger Award, 1997, creative nonfiction
bulletNational Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 1992, poetry
bulletIllinois Arts Council Fellowship, 1990, poetry
bulletPablo Neruda Prize, 1989, poetry

 

Books

 
bulletInternal Strategies, University of Akron Press, 1995
bulletSadie and Mendel, Backwaters Press, 2006

 

Literary Reviews that have published short works

Black Warrior Review, Northwest Review, Nimrod, Stone Country, Ploughshares, Five Fingers Review, 5 AM, Spoon River Poetry Review, The Madison Review, Prairie Schooner, Xanadu, The Illinois Review, Sojourner, Primavera, Midstream, One Meadway, The New Laurel Review, Northeast Journal.

 

 

Education

MFA in Creative Writing -- Brown University, 1989

BA in English -- Brown University, 1987