Laurie Junkins was born and raised on the West Coast, attended University of Washington as an earnest undergraduate, and holds an MFA in poetry from Northwest Institute of Literary Arts (Whidbey Writer’s Workshop.) She has been published in Poet Lore, Nimrod, Tipton Poetry Journal, Rattle, Alehouse, and Literary Mama, among many others.  She is currently working on a memoir as well as a book-length poetry manuscript, and lives in New Jersey with her husband and three children.