In 1976 she developed and became director of the first known low-residency, Master of Fine Arts degree course in Creative Writing in the United States. Now in her 70s, Ellen has published six collections of poetry as well as a number of craft essays. Unusually for a writer she claims that music influences her writing but from a “sound” perspective. She hears the music first and then crafts her words around that. Writers often create the words first and then a composer sets those words to music. She...