Author of drops from her umbrella, a poetry collection from Inkling Press consisting of 131 5-line tanka poems (the best of over 4000 the author wrote during a 12-year period) arranged to read like an autobiography in verse.
Founder of American Tanka, (and Editor from 1996-2008), a perfect-bound print journal showcasing the best English-language tanka being written today, and a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation seeking to promote tanka poetry through fine literary publications, public outreach, and education.
Current Projects: A memoir, just completed and being shown to agents, and a novel in the drafting stage.
Born in Brooklyn and brought up on Staten Island, Laura Maffei has lived in Texas and New York and has traveled to Japan, Estonia, Costa Rica, Lithuania, and many other places. Her MFA is from the Universtiy of Texas at Austin. She has worked as a technical writer, a corporate "communications specialist," an adjunct professor, and an instructor of creative writing to gifted children. She currently teaches writing and literature to teenagers at a private prep school.