Thomas Phalen is an Irish/American dual national. He retired after 38 years practicing law and devoted himself singularly to writing poetry and prose fiction. He has been writing nearly all his life, but with a diligent consistency for the past 40 years. Among other journals, his poetry and stories have been published in The Lune, The Blue Mountain Review, The Muleskinner Journal, Icarus, The Wild Umbrella, Third Wednesdays, and Cider Press Review. He is a four-time contributor in poetry at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in Middlebury, Vermont, and in Erice, Sicily. He obtained his Master in Philosophy degree in Creative Writing from the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing at Trinity College, Dublin. He is one of the editors of The Muleskinner Journal. He has published a poetry chapbook, a smattering of single poems, and a few short stories during his modest writing career. He is a fly-fisher, a gardener, a marathoner, a student of the French language, an international traveler, and a woodworker. He recently lost the Forever Love of his Life, his beautiful and talented artist wife, Stacie Schimke. He lives alternately in Phoenix, Arizona and in Dublin, Ireland with his genius Border Collie, Finnbar.