Loretta Diane Walker, a musician— tenor saxophonist, a daughter navigating a new world, a teacher who still likes her students, a two-time breast cancer survivor, a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, and an artist who has been humbled and inspired by a collection of remarkable people and poets won the 2021 William D. Barney Memorial Chapbook Contest, the 2016 Phyllis Wheatley Book Award and the 2011 Bluelight Press Book Award. Her work has appeared in various publications throughout the United States, Canada, India, Ireland, and the UK. She has published five collections of poetry. Her full-length manuscript Day Begins When Darkness is In Full Bloom (Bluelight Press), is scheduled for publication in 2021.
