Maureen M. Welch was born into a family of Irish storytellers in the American Midwest. She learned early to revere the written word: becoming a closet poet, then a high school English teacher. Settling in Florida, she continued writing fiction and technical writing, becoming an activist for women’s rights and environmental causes. In 2020, Maureen won the Faulkner-Wisdom Writing Competition for Single Poem. She is currently working on a collection of poems, short stories, and a novel.