Ann Russek has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska Anchorage. From 1993 until 2002 she taught literature and various creative writing courses at DeSales University, Lebanon Valley College, and Penn State Schuylkill Campus. From 1995 - 2002, she taught and aided in the development of the curriculum for the Creative Writing Concentration for English Majors at Muhlenberg College. She works as a free-lance writer and is a frequent contributor to several Allentown Morning Call publications including Lehigh Valley Living.
She has published poetry and nonfiction in many national and regional publications. She has been a guest artist for colleges such as Lebanon Valley College, Lafayette College, DeSales University, Muhlenberg College, and Reading Area Community College. Her first chapbook, First Lie, was published by Black Spruce Press, Anchorage, Alaska 2000. Her award winning poem, "Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny," was included in the anthology, Palpable Clock, University of Scranton Press, 2004. Her first children's story, "Coqui's Song," was published in the 2003 summer edition of the award winning, multi-cultural magazine, Skipping Stones.
She has just returned from two years in London, England where she began work on an autobiographically based novel under the tutelage of Jill Robinson, author of the bestsellers Perdido and seminal memoir, Bed/Time/Story, and the Wimpole Street Writers. Living once again in Chester County, she has returned to her poetry critique group, freelancing and has renewed her involvement with the Valley Forge Romance Writers.
