About

Irene Fick was born in Brooklyn to Mary and Angelo Piraino and their extended and very attentive Italian clan. When Angelo had enough, he moved the family to Park Forest, a placid Chicago suburb, where Irene merely existed, longing for summers when she would vacation in Brooklyn. She craved its noise, vibrant street life, corner candy stores and hanging out with her cool cousins. 

 

Irene’s wanderlust later found her on Chicago’s Near North Side, Clearwater Beach (Florida), San Francisco and Wilmington, Delaware. She now lives in Lewes (a beach community also in Delaware) with her husband, Ed, a retired music teacher. Completing her family is son, Greg, daughter-in-law, Hannah, and grand-dog Captain the Corgi. 

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Irene’s professional life has been eclectic. She has written extensively for newspapers and magazines, ran an editorial business with clients in healthcare, theology and education, served as public affairs director for a major medical center and a global pharmaceutical firm. Irene also co-authored a book on ethics in cancer care for the Pennsylvania Department of Health; served as copy editor for Delaware Today magazine and as marketing associate for the Graduate Program in Pastoral Counseling, Neumann University. While in San Francisco, she launched a poetry consulting service called “It Could Be Verse.” 

 

After years of telling other peoples’ stories, Irene returned to her original passion: poetry. Through poetry, she found her voice, freed her imagination, and satisfied her love of language. Poetry also was compatible with her short attention span. 

 

During the past twelve years, Irene has published two chapbooks: The Wild Side of the Window (Main Street Rag) and The Stories We Tell (The Broadkill River Press). Both books received first place awards from the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW).  Her poems have been awarded first or second place from NFPW and the Delaware Press Association.  Irene’s poetry has been published in six anthologies and numerous journals, including Blue Mountain Review, Philadelphia Stories, Poet Lore, Willawaw Journal, Gargoyle and Delmarva Review.  Her prose has appeared in River Teeth Journal, Hippocampus and the Schuylkill Valley Journal. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. 

 

Irene is active in the Rehoboth Beach Writers Guild, where she participates in readings and workshops, and Coastal Writers, a long-running weekly poetry critique group.  When not writing, Irene sings in a community chorus, volunteers for Delaware Hospice, dabbles in black-and-white photography, enjoys yoga and daily walks and bike rides on local trails.