Ann Willow

When I was a kid, I wrote stories for my twin sister. Even before I learned how to write, I’d pretend, scribbling on paper. It was wonderful when I could finally put those words on paper.

Later in life, I spent many years writing my memoirs, which have evolved into a four-book series titled Aboveground. I tried to hide and run from my story, but it wouldn’t let me. From a typist to a salesperson, make-up consultant, realtor, cross-country truck driver, to a yoga teacher, reiki practitioner and high school substitute teacher, the writer in me relentlessly chased me. I wrote here and there for twenty-five years until I finally finished Book I in the series, Remembering Changes Everything, in 2024.

I no longer hide my writing. Excerpts and short stories from my memoirs have won awards and been published in literary journals. As a freelance writer, I am proud to have written newspaper articles documenting the plight of victims and families of missing and murdered Indigenous people, MMIP, in the Four Corners region of the U.S. As a playwright, I specialize in humorous one-act plays with a social justice theme. I love to turn heated controversy into lighthearted farce, or humorously reveal secrets frowned upon by polite society.

I began wandering many years ago, finding my true home in the American Southwest. There, I have found inspiration in its mystical landscapes, unique history, and diverse quirky folk. My second home is in a secluded area of what was once called Indian Territory. The Native descendants of those who walked the Trail of Tears are alive and well, and kind and generous to everyone despite their suffering under colonialism. Their landscape, as well, is profoundly beautiful and I sojourn there for sustenance and to write in the wilds of misty mountains.