Biography: Karen Topham

Karen is a high school teacher and has been for more than thirty years, sharing her passion for literature and writing with many hundreds of teenagers.  She has been a coach, a theatre director, a mentor, an editor, and just someone to talk with since just after she graduated from college herself.  She has also raised three children, all of whom mean more than the world to her, and currently has three cats, who believe that they are really the ones in charge of the relationship (and may well be correct). In her journey through life, Karen has faced many struggles, but none has been greater than the struggle of having been born incorrectly gendered.  Having finally correcting that after forty years of sometimes intense personal battles, she has gained a deep appreciation of the depth of love and the simple joys of being able to live a life outside of the shadows.  Her husband, a talented photographer, shares her insight into the pleasure of life's simplest things.  Together they continue the journey with no map to follow. Karen is a member of the Unitarian Universalist faith and has served as Council Chair of her church.  She is a member of several professional organizations including the National Council Of Teachers of English, the Illinois Association of Teachers of English, and the Illinois Theatre Association, among others.  She is also a member of the Unitarian Universalists Service Committee and Interweave, a UU GLBT organization.  
My Website http://www.sunspark.com