JAN SHIARELLA MCGRATH is a lifelong teacher, actor, playwright and poet whose work is represented in literary journals and an East African anthology. Awarded a BA from SUNY Albany and graduate assistantship at Penn State University, the author spent further years of study at University College Nairobi, and the University of Maine. In Hawaii, she adapted Dante's INFERNO and Milton's PARADISE LOST for stage presentations, and went on to two decades of play writing. Twice nominated by the Hawaii State Theatre Council for excellence in acting awards, in 2013, the Council presented her with a Po'okela award as playwright. Her book of selections HOME: FOUR PLAYS was published by Epigraph in 2020. The author's poetry in this collection, some cheeky, others poignant or pointed or fierce, are introspection and observation of family, friends, and lovers, as well as places lived from rural hometown to Kenya, Maine, and her home now in Hawaii. Together they form the writer's memoir in poetry.