Irene Willis is the author of four collections of poetry: Reminder (WordTech Communications, LLC, 2014), They Tell Me You Danced, (University Press of Florida, 1995); At the Fortune Cafe (winner, Violet Reed Haas Prize, Snake Nation Press, 2005), and Those Flames (finalist for the Philip Levine Prize at California State, Fresno, and published by Bay Oak, 2009). She has also co-authored a number of textbooks and books for children and young adults. Thrice nominated for Pushcart Prizes, her poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies. A longtime educator who has ‘retired’ three times, she has taught at a number of secondary schools and colleges, most recently at Westfield State University and American International College in Massachusetts. Awards for her poetry include a Distinguished Artist fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Berkshire/Taconic Foundation. She is Poetry Editor of the online publication, International Psychoanalysis.