found: African American National Biography, accessed December 17, 2014, via Oxford African American Studies Center database:(Birtha, Becky; poet, fiction writer; born 11 October 1948 in Hampton, Virginia, United States; graduated from the State University of New York in Buffalo, with a degree in Children's Studies; holds MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College (1984); taught at Goddard College and Bryn Mawr College; published short stories collections, collections of poetry and children's books; honors include an Individual Fellowship in Literature from the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts (1985), a Creative Writing Fellowship in Literature from the National Endowment of the Arts (1988), a Pushcart Prize (1988), a Pew fellowship in the Arts (1993), and the Golden Kite Award (2005))