Charlotte Digregorio of Winnetka, Illinois is a poet and author of four non-fiction books: You Can Be A Columnist, Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Homes, Your Original Personal Ad, and Beginners’ Guide to Writing & Selling Quality Features. In her 30 years as a professional writer, she’s been a frequent media guest and interviewee throughout the U.S., and her books have been sold in 29 countries. Digregorio has been nominated and listed in professional directories, such as The International Authors and Writers Who’s Who in Cambridge, England.

Digregorio holds graduate degrees in Italian and French Literatures, and has been on the faculty of universities, teaching languages and writing. She has also given non-fiction writing workshops at libraries, bookstores, and universities throughout the country, and has done numerous poetry readings. She hosted her own radio program, “Poetry Beat,” on Oregon Public Broadcasting from 1995-1997.

Digregorio’s favorite form of poetry is haiku. Her haiku has been featured in a variety of publications and anthologies including Modern Haiku, frogpond, The International Herald Tribune, bottle rockets, The University of Chicago Magazine, and Shamrock Haiku Journal. Digregorio recently won an award in the “Poetry Challenge,” sponsored by Highland Park Poetry in Highland Park, IL, and was interviewed on “Poetry Today,” a cable television program in suburban Chicago. Her haiku has been publicly displayed at wine shops, art galleries, supermarkets, and apparel shops along Chicago’s North Shore.

Digregorio loves to write haiku because it helps her focus on the present and enjoy the simple things around her that are worth appreciating, rather than pondering the “what-ifs” of the future. She also appreciates the brevity of haiku, being able to say so much using an economy of words. When a thought or image strikes her, she records it and writes a haiku. She then lets the haiku sit for a few days before revising it. She believes it’s a neat and clean process that doesn’t involve revision over a long period of time, as many poetic forms do.