Carol Anderheggen, author of “Writing Down Cancer” and “Born Child” on June 30th 2022

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Carol Anderheggen has been a published poet and writer since the 1980s and is an active disaster
relief volunteer with the American Red Cross.
She has confronted many challenges in her life. Taken out of her home early in her life, removed
from a mom with mental health issues, she floundered in foster care and then was adopted by a
Navy couple. Her second mother became an alcoholic. Later in life she became a survivor of
breast cancer. Both her childhood of trauma and her adult health scare are the subject of her
books.
Her first chapbook, Writing Down Cancer, was published by Finishing Line Press. She followed
that up with the publishing of Born-Child. She has been published in regional journals such as
Anemone, The Great Swamp Gazette, Newport Life, and Northeast Journal and served on the
staff of The Frost Festival of Poetry, Franconia, NH for seven years.
She served as docent for the museum hours at Robert Frost's home in Franconia, NH, assisted the
director with book sales and edited the annual attendee anthology of readings. Carol also worked
as a school librarian media specialist for nearly three decades.
Carol is active in the Ocean State Poets of Rhode Island, both as their web designer and as a
practitioner of poetry outreach. As secretary and web-master of the organization, Ocean State
Poets, in Rhode Island, Carol created and maintains the website, www.oceanstatepoets.org for
the organization. As an OSP member, Carol has participated in area readings and nurtured a
public library writing group with another poet, Heather Sullivan.
Carol and Heather have worked together for seven years in a Salve Regina University
community service class which pairs developmentally handicapped adults with Salve students.
The class has produced two anthologies of poetry, a DVD of stage presentations highlighting
community students' abilities, and several group poems presented orally each school year.
She earned a BA in English and an MLS from University of Rhode Island.
Carol has two children and two grandchildren. She resides in Rhode Island. For more
information, please consult: www.carolmaeray.com.