Mary Ann Domanska is a 2nd grade teacher at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, Pa., where she has taught for the past twenty-one years. Mary Ann earned a B.F.A. in Performing Arts with a minor in creative writing from Emerson College in Boston, MA. There, she studied with the notable Latino poet, Martín Espada, and with Kristin Linklater, author of Freeing the Natural Voice. She spent her early career in Los Angeles where she held various positions in the entertainment industry including as a script reader for MGM Studios and as an assistant at the International Documentary Association (IDA) in Hollywood. She earned a masters degree in Elementary Education from Chestnut Hill College in 2001. She attended The Creative Writing Institute (graduate level) at Arcadia University where she completed her middle grade novel, EmicRizzle, Tinkerer, which was published in December, 2016, through Mnemosyne Books. Her current work in progress is a sequel entitled Emic Rizzle Commits Random Acts of Art. She published an article in the SCBWI Bulletin (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) entitled, Writing a Middle Grade Novel? Talk to an Expert. Talk to a ‘Tween! She has published several poems in the Philly Poetry Anthology with WRAGS Ink, Publishing (2012) and a chapbook entitled Unraveled through Moonstone Arts Center (Philadelphia). She performs locally at the Stagecrafters Theatre in Chestnut Hill and Allens Lane Art Center in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. She was on the board of MAAG (Mt. Airy Art Garage) for eight years and founded/hosted "The Swerve" - a monthly open mic poetry slam event (2014-2015). She is the proud mother of her daughter, Clara, who is a senior in college working towards her degree in psychology and looks forward to celebrating her future successes.