Joan (Kirchgessner) Higuchi, an RN and frequently published poet from Long Island New York was awarded first prize in a category of The Writer's Digest contest shortly after she resumed writing after her retirement twenty-five years ago. Her work had originally been published while she was a student, but was deferred while she and her husband Paul raised their two daughters and she pursued her career. She additionally won the "Miracles" competition sponsored by the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association and successive top prizes in the Performance Poets Association contests. Publication of a collection related to her experiences in the field of Mental Health is in process and her first chapbook of nature poems, "A World of Small Things Singing" (Finishing Line Press) is available on Amazon.com.
