Life

She was born in Pampa

Pampa, Texas

Pampa is a city in Gray County, Texas, United States. The population was 17,887 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Gray County.Pampa is the principal city of the Pampa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Gray and Roberts counties....

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and educated in Roseville

Roseville, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 33,690 people, 14,598 households, and 8,598 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,543.9 people per square mile . There were 14,917 housing units at an average density of 1,126.4 per square mile...

 and Saint Paul

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. She was raised a Catholic, and served as a novice in a religious community. She is now a member of the Religious Society of Friends

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 (Quakers). She has spent time in Buddhist practice, in particular under Thich Nhat Hanh. She graduated from the College of St. Catherine

College of St. Catherine

St. Catherine University is a private Catholic university for women located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. There is also a campus in Minneapolis. Enrollment is 5,246 students. With approximately 2,900 bachelor's students, it is the largest university for women in the United States. Its...

 and completed graduate work at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

From 1978 to 2006, she taught English and environmental studies at St. Thomas College

University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)

The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic, liberal arts, and archdiocesan university located in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...

.

She lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Awards

• 2005 Walt Whitman Award
• Contemplative Studies Grant from the American Council of Learned Societies
• Bush Artist Grant
• McKnight Award of Distinction.

Ploughshares

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