Dorianne Laux was born in Maine and worked in many capacities. A single mother, she took occasional classes and poetry workshops at the local junior college, writing poems during shift breaks. In 1983 she moved to Berkeley, California where she began writing in earnest. Supported by scholarships and grants, she returned to school when her daughter was a young child, and graduated with honors from Mills College in the Spring of 1988 with an English degree. Ms.Laux has been published widely, is the author of various poetry collections and has received numerous honors and awards for her poetry. For more information about her, please check out the feature in our Folios section.