Poet Shutta Crum
Shutta Crum is an award-winning poet and children’s book writer and an oft-requested speaker and presenter at writing conferences, libraries and schools. She is the author of a well-reviewed chapbook, WHEN YOU GET HERE, which won a gold Royal Palm Literary Award. (Kelsay Books, 2020). In addition, her poems for adults have appeared in numerous small press publications and literary journals since the 1970s. That includes Ann Arbor (W)rites, The Wayne Literary Review, The Huron River Review, Writers Reading at Sweetwaters, Current Magazine, Driftwood, Stoneboat Literary, Typehouse, Blue Mountain Review, CultureCult, Redshift 4, Orchards Poetry Journal, Better Than Starbucks, Nostos, Southern Poetry Review, ArtAscent, Beyond Words, and 3rd Wednesday Magazine. Forthcoming in Mom Egg Review. As well, a number of her poems appear in the AAR2 (the online version of the Ann Arbor Review).
She is also the author of thirteen picture books and three novels for young readers, all published by major publishers: Alfred A. Knopf, Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Albert Whitman, and Fitzhenry & Whiteside. In 2005 she was invited to read at the White House and in 2010 toured Japan presenting to the students of the Department of Defense schools.
Shutta is always delighted about what poetry can bring to one’s life. It was through poetry that she met her husband when he was a co-editor of the Ann Arbor Review. When they married, he brought with him his two children. Now, those children have given her grandchildren. “Poetry has shaped my whole life,” she says. “When I look at those grandchildren, I see poetry.”
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Artist Deborah Lightfield
Deborah Lightfield moved to Ponte Vedra, Florida after retiring from two careers: twenty years in the jewelry industry and twenty years as an art teacher. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees from James Madison University in Virginia. She also received a Gemologist Certification from the Gemological Institute of America in California.
Her careers include designing fine and fashion jewelry, art education, and creating commissioned artwork for clients and galleries. Art has been the thread throughout her life and career. She has enjoyed creating art in many mediums and styles, though her current focus is Acrylic Painting Abstract and Ocean Wash.
Deborah has lived in New York, California, Illinois, South Carolina, and North Carolina. She worked on Princess Cruises for two years. Her career and interests have taken her on travels around the world. Perhaps the artistic DNA genes have been handed down to her from her great-great-great-uncle, James McNeil Whistler?