Carolyne Whelan received her MFA in poetry and nonfiction at Chatham University in 2009, where she was a finalist for Best Thesis. She was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Sacramento Poetry Center Prize for a Single Poem, a partial scholarship to the Vermont Studio Center, and attended A Room Of Her Own Foundation's 2011 Retreat. Her first chapbook, The Glossary of Tania Aebi, was published by Finishing Line Press also in 2011. Her second chapbook, Chain Down the Moon, and her full length manuscript, Roadside Fires Burning, have both been finalists in national chapbook and first book publishing competitions, respectively. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA where she works as a writing instructor at the Community College of Allegheny County and also at The Midwife Center for Birth and Women's Health.




photo credit: Nicole Mandel