Annie Mascorro received her B.A. in Latin American Studies with an emphasis on poetry from Pomona College, her M.F.A. in poetry from The University of Montana, and her B.S in nursing from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.  Her poetry and essays have been published in Calyx, Epilepsy U.S.A., WorldView Magazine, Montana Public Radio’s Collegium Medicium, Sixfold, Ostrich Review, ZYZZYVA, and are forthcoming in The Squaw Valley Review and Pudding Magazine.  She is the recipient of the 2007 Five Fingers Review poetry prize.  She is currently pursuing her certification in poetry therapy through the National Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy.  As a psychiatric nurse specializing in chemical dependency, Annie has given poetry workshops in hospitals and clinics in Baltimore, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and San Diego.  She has also lead non-clinical community poetry workshops at San Diego Writers Ink and Sierra College where she focuses on the writing process as a way to promote wellness.  Annie finds joy in sharing the transformative power of poetry with writers of all levels.  Her background as a poet, teacher, nurse, and student of poetry therapy helps create a supportive, nurturing, and energetic atmosphere in all of her workshops.