Worn Masks (9 page)

Phyllis
Carito was born a Bronx Italian and that sits at the core of who she is and how
she expresses herself through her writing. Public libraries opened the doors to
her world of reading and writing, and her work experiences have included public
and private
libraries, media print
production, and teaching cre
ative writing. The opportunity to earn an
MFA
with a writing focus through
Manhattanville Col
lege cemented her desire as a poet and writer. Her
book
of poems
barely a whisper
was
released through Fin
ishing Line Press. Other published poems and prose
appeared in
Passager, Stone Highway Review, Inkwell Review, Vermont Literary
Review, Voices in Italian Americana
, and
Returning Woman
. Poems and
short stories have been her main focus until this novel. She is currently
working on the precision of flash fiction; and putting together a collection of
short stories.

A different version of Chapter 8, “Locked In,” was previously
published as “Imprints” in Spring 2016,
Voices
in Italian Americana
literary and
cultural re
view.