Sandra de Helen published her first poem at the age of fourteen. Her English teacher, Janice Wallace, submitted the poem to a teacher's magazine and surprised Sandra with a copy in print. The poem was about abortion, which was illegal at the time (and may be again soon in this country).In her twenties, Sandra published a few poems in newspapers, which spurred her to take a Creative Writing Class at the local community college. The [male] professor predicted she would never make a good poet because she didn't "write like a man." The next year she joined the women's movement and turned to writing plays. Forty years later, she picked up Sage Cohen's book, Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry, and resumed writing poems like a woman. Sandra also writes novels, essays, theater reviews, and a weekly newsletter.Sandra is a long-time resident of Portland, Oregon, where she lives with her daughter, chickens, and cats.