Kitty O’Meara lives near Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, Phillip Hagedorn, their five rescue dogs, three cats, gardens, and books. Formerly a middle school writing and literature teacher and hospital and hospice chaplain, she is currently a spiritual director and has been a lifelong writer and artist. She has been called “the poet laureate of the pandemic” based on her wildly popular, widely circulated, and hopeful poem about the COVID-19 pandemic. That poem is illustrated and presented in book form in And the People Stayed Home, her best-selling first print book, published by Tra Publishing. She is also the author of The Rare, Tiny Flower (Tra Publishing, 2021).

 

PRAISE FOR KITTY O’MEARA

“Kitty O’Meara is the poet laureate of the pandemic. . . . The poem has become shorthand for a silver-linings perspective during the coronavirus outbreak.”—O, The Oprah Magazine

“She has given the world a small piece of joy.”—BookTrib

“A communal beacon of hope.”—The Washington Post

“She is challenging us to grow—to look inside, to listen deeply, to allow ourselves to think differently, and ultimately, to create new ways of living on the planet.”—Deepak Chopra, MD, author, Metahuman

“A stunning and peaceful offering of introspection and hope…”—The Children’s Book Review

“O’Meara’s words come to life for future generations to…encourage everyone to find silver linings, think differently and never lose hope.”—B & N Reads

 

Quim Torres is an award-winning illustrator and author based in Barcelona. He has illustrated several children’s books, including the recent Tra Publishing titles Sweet People Are Everywhere by Alice Walker and The Rare, Tiny Flower by Kitty O’Meara (both 2021). He has studied art as healing and Gestalt psychology, and he teaches workshops in which drawing becomes a means of self-discovery. He believes that people are made of stories, and he hopes his drawings inspire others to share their tales. He feels that art is a healing force.