Learning to Stay

Erin Celello was born and raised in Michigan’s gorgeous Upper Peninsula where she spearheaded a neighborhood effort to sell Trilliums in beer bottles (because lemonade stand revenues just weren’t cutting it), taught herself to do a “Three Amigos” mount onto her saint–like horse’s back, ski raced, spent a lot of time trying to get out of track workouts, and made many dubious fashion and hair choices (thank god Facebook showed up after high school), and one dubious choice in general that resulted in her having to paint the rival football team’s stadium.She received an English degree from St. Norbert College, where she also ran track and was an editor of The St. Norbert TIMES. Not knowing what else one does with a degree in English, Erin set out for law school but never quite got there. Instead, she headed back up (farther) north to Marquette, Michigan where she received an MFA in fiction from Northern Michigan University and a PhD in snow shoveling.

James DeVita, a native of Long Island, NY, is an author and playwright, and an actor.  Along with his three novels, A Winsome Murder, The Silenced, and Blue, he has also written more than sixteen plays and adaptations of classics for young audiences and adults. Jim is the resident playwright for First Stage Children’s Theater. His plays have been awarded The Distinguished Play Award from The American Alliance of Theater and Education; The Intellectual Freedom Award by the Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts; and he was the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship for Fiction. Jim lives in Spring Green, WI, with his wife and two children, where he is a core company member of American Players Theater, a classical repertory theater.  He has been a member of the company there for twenty-two years.