About William Mawhinney
William Mawhinney was born in Avalon, Pennsylvania, in 1939. He earned an English degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1963 and moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he worked various gigs as a proofreader, preparatory schoolmaster, and construction estimator.
After 18 years at Raytheon as a facilities engineer, technical writer, newsletter editor, and corporate trainer, he and his wife, Wanda, an abstract painter, retired to the forest west of Show Low, Arizona. While there, he led monthly poetry circles at a local library, volunteered as a poet in elementary school classrooms, and offered poetry workshops and readings throughout the Southwest.
Chased from the woods by a wildfire, he now lives in Port Ludlow, Washington.
He is the author of two collections of poetry: Songs in My Begging Bowl and Cairns Along The Road. He performed poetry in retirement homes through an Arts to Elders program. For 13 years he curated and hosted the Northwind Reading Series in Port Townsend.
His work has appeared in Heron Dance, Windfall, Minotaur, and Rainshadow Journal. The Port Townsend Arts Commission named him Angel of the Arts for 2011.