Jennifer Smith Turner is a New England born writer. She began writing poetry thirty years ago while an English major at Union College in Schenectady, New York. She is the author of Lost and Found, Rhyming Verse Honoring African American Heroes published in 2006 and Perennial Secrets, Poetry & Prose published in 2003 and nominated for the 2004 Connecticut Book Awards. She was nominated for the Connecticut Poet Laureate appointment in 2006. Her range of verse is eclectic in the hundreds of poems she has written. Her work is included in Vineyard Poets, an anthology of poems by Martha's Vineyard writers and in numerous literary publications. She has been featured on National Public Radio's Faith Middleton Show, has appeared on Connecticut Public Television and the Ivanhoe Broadcasting Smart Woman program. She has been a featured speaker at Yale University, University of Pennsylvania Kelly Writer's House, the University of Hartford, Northwestern Community College, Union College, and the University of Connecticut. An engaging speaker, Jennifer makes numerous appearances at national conferences and meetings of various organizations. She is a graduate of Union College, where she earned a Bachelors degree. She received her Masters degree from Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT. Subsequent to her studies she spent twenty-eight years in corporate America holding numerous senior executive positions. She is a member of the Poetry Society of America, The Academy of American Poets, and serves on many boards of academic and non-profit organizations across the country. She presently serves as the President of the Board for the Hartford Stage Company.