Linda Conroy facilitates writing groups at Village Books, and has self-published two poetry collections, Ordinary Signs, and Familiar Sky. After moving to Bellingham from Canada she attended Western Washington University for a M.Ed. degree in adult education and worked as a social worker, meeting facilitator, and advocate for people with unique needs. These experiences led her to appreciate the complicated and gratifying aspects of human nature, and to believe in the role of story as a support for strengthening community. She recognizes that the connection between humankind and the natural world, especially in these changing times, acts as a comfort, and this theme is common in her writing. She is a winner of the Whatcom County’s Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest and her work has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She enjoys the practice of working from prompts, and is always happy to share her writing process with others.