Hazel Kitts lives in Appomattox, VA with her second husband, Gary. Between them they have five children and eight grandchildren and enjoy family and traveling.
Hazel, who is retired from a 44-year career in the financial industry, grew up in Richmond, Virginia’s surrounding counties. Her dad was a dairy farmhand, more than a little fond of whiskey and prone to imbibe on paydays. His drinking often led to him quitting his job or being fired. In the 50’s and 60’s, a job on a farm came with a home – lose the job, lose the home, so there was a lot of moving about. By age sixteen, Hazel had moved 30+ times. This meant changing schools as well as houses.
Hazel completed her education while working and raising a family, graduating from Lynchburg University in 1996 with a degree in mathematics. Work, as an actuarial assistant, was more of a left-brain focus: programming, analytics, project management, and so on.
As a retiree, she enjoys having more free time to devote to her right-brain interests: quilting and writing. She has made over 200 quilts; some award winning. This has produced tubs of scraps which she is now turning into scrap quilts that she gives away. She thinks of these as cotton poetry.
Hazel has written a fantasy novel (which she has not been able to get published) and a memoir (which she did not try to get published). She is now concentrating on poetry; has taken several poetry writing classes online and has engaged a writing coach to help her get a poetry collection published. Fingers crossed. She enjoys all forms of poetry: rhyming/metered, free verse, prose, narrative, haiku, etc. Her subject matter is eclectic, reflecting inspiration from personal experience, philosophical ideas, nature and Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNR) practices.
She looks forward to being a member of the Writers Guild of Virginia..