Kathleen Tarr is the author of We Are All Poets Here (2018), her memoir that examines the late-life journey to Alaska by the renown Trappist monk and spiritual leader Thomas Merton. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Tarr has lived in Alaska since 1978, working several years as an administrator of the University of Alaska Anchorage creative writing program. She earned her own MFA in Creative Nonfiction at the University of Pittsburgh.  In 2016, Tarr was named a William Shannon Fellow of the International Thomas Merton Society.  And in 2017, Gov. Bill Walker appointed Tarr to the board of directors of the Alaska Humanities Forum.