Meri Tumanyan is a first generation Armenian-American who currently resides in California. She received a B.A. in English and Comparative Literary Studies from Occidental College and an M.A. in Creative Writing from California State University Northridge. She is a mother, a full-time high school teacher, and an adjunct English professor. She is the author of the poetry collections Love in the Time of Corona and Shadows. Her children’s books Mommy the Dreamweaver, Daddy’s Waltz, Never Be Anyone Other Than You, and The Girl with the Purple Umbrella are inspired by and dedicated to her children. Poetry, however, remains her true passion.