Pittenger, Michelle: - Michelle Pittenger holds an M.A. in the Humanities from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her poetry has appeared in college journals and Cosmic Cowgirls E-zine. A poet-teacher for California Poets in the Schools, she has led poetry workshops for youth at the Lompoc Public Library and teaches poetry residencies in local schools. Michelle believes poetry gives young people a means of understanding the world and, perhaps, changing it. She considers it a great honor to raise up fresh voices that can tell new stories in our hurting world. Poetry is a kind of magic, inviting readers to explore different ways of seeing and narrating the world in which we move and have our being. Poems are spells and she is a Witch of Words.