Jill Peláez Baumgaertner is the author of six collections of poetry, including the recently published From Shade to Shine: New Poems. She has also edited a collection of poetry, Imago Dei: Poetry from Christianity and Literature; written a textbook/anthology, Poetry; and published Flannery O’Connor: A Proper Scaring, still in print after thirty years. Taking Root in the Heart, an anthology of poetry from the Christian Century will be published in 2023. She was a Fulbright fellow to Spain, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and is the winner of the White Eagle Coffee Store Press’s poetry chapbook contest, the Goodman Award, an Illinois Arts Council Award, the Illinois Prize of the Rock River Poetry Contest, and the CCL Midwest Poetry Contest. She has served as the poetry editor of The Cresset and First Things and currently serves as poetry editor of The Christian Century. She is also past president of the Conference on Christianity and Literature and is Professor Emerita of English and former Dean of Humanities and Theological Studies at Wheaton College. She has written song texts and libretti for composers Carl Schalk, Michael Costello, Richard Hillert, Daniel Kellogg, Shawn Okpebholo, and most recently for Michael Gandolfi. Their Cantata, based on Psalm 139, was performed by the Boston Symphony Chamber Orchestra. After her retirement from Wheaton in 2017 she returned for a term as Acting Provost and retired once again in 2018. She has two children—Anna, a teacher and professional violinist, and Martin, a video and film producer, and four grandchildren. She and her husband, Martin, a retired judge, lived in Oak Park and River Forest for twenty five years before moving into Chicago in 2003. jillbaumgaertner.com