Donna Besel grew up in Whiteshell Provincial Park, and now lives on the Winnipeg River near Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba. Her writing has appeared in various publications and accumulated honours such as second place in Prairie Fire's writing contest, shortlist in CBC's Literary Awards, finalist in CBC's "Canada Writes" and first place in This Magazine's "Great Canadian Literary Hunt." She leads creative writing workshops for all ages and also instructs in the province-wide Artists in the Schools program.