Lauren Mallett (she/her/hers) is a poet, teacher, birth doula, and fiber artist. She has lived and studied in Guanajuato and Xalapa, Mexico. Lauren taught dual-language immersion fifth grade in Richmond, California. She earned her MFA and was the Assistant Director of Creative Writing at Purdue University. Her poetry appears in Poetry Northwest, The Seventh Wave, Salamander, Passages North, Scud, and other journals. Lauren lives with her partner, Strand Sheldahl-Thomason, on Clatsop land of Oregon's north coast. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Oregon Poetry Association. Lauren is the Student Contest Chair of Cascadia, an online anthology and contest for Oregon's young poets. She teaches at Encore Academy for the Performing Arts in Warrenton.