Kara Werth

Recent submission:
Thora Birch
as of April 22, 2012

I can pinpoint the exact moment I knew I wanted to be a writer. I was in Mrs. Bondy's grade six class and we were asked to do a poetry assignment. It was then that I discovered I could write poetry and didn't know how to stop. I also discovered that my dad has been a writer his whole life as well, with notebooks filled with poetry and written word. It was in grade seven that I won a poetry contest for a poem I wrote about Remembrance Day and I now share that with my students each year in November. When I reached high school, my passion for writing grew when I did an independent study project about Leonard Cohen and I fell in love with his mind. I read every poem, song and book he wrote and yearned to understand the meaning behind his words. That independent study led me to major in English in university and I graduated in 2003 with an Honours BA in English Language and Literature.

I was enthralled by my professors and not just with the readings and assignments they gave me, but their life stories about where their writing had led them. Some of my professors studied at Oxford and I longed to travel Europe at that time, so hearing about someone going to school there really inspired me. I decided I wanted to teach others to love the English language and combine my love of words with my love of children, so I got my Bachelors in Education and became a teacher. Even though I spend my days teaching elementary school, my love of writing has never disappeared and I try to inspire my students as much as my teachers inspired me. Today, however, I have put my teaching career on hold and am at home with my 3 month old daughter, Addelyn. Adding the role of Mother to my resume has made me a better person and I want to share everything I know and love with my little girl. The one thing I have loved my whole life is writing and these days I'm mostly just writing in greeting cards, journals and my poetry collections. I want to expand my abilities and become a writer for AND Magazine, simply because I LOVE to write - full stop!