Diana Woodcock teaches composition, creative writing, and environmental literature in Qatar at Virginia Commonwealth University’s branch campus. She is the author of Tread Softly (FutureCycle Press, 2018), Under the Spell of a Persian Nightingale (Word Poetry Books, 2015), and Swaying on the Elephant’s Shoulders (Little Red Tree Publishing, 2011), winner of the 2011 Vernice Quebodeaux Pathways Poetry Prize for Women. One of her poems was performed live onstage in Lincoln Park, San Francisco at Artists Embassy International’s 21st Dancing Poetry Festival, and she was included in Best New poets 2008. Prior to teaching in Qatar, she worked for nearly eight years in Tibet, Macau and on the Thai/Cambodian border. Woodcock is a native Virginian holds a PhD in Creative Writing (Lancaster University).