Ann Mallen is a writer of both fiction and nonfiction based in West Palm Beach and Pittsburgh. Her work often focuses on the struggle of the individual in relation to institutional, psycho-social, and cultural power.

When she’s not writing, she’s sometimes baking fancy treats and crusty baguettes. In Florida, she grows orchids, mangoes, papayas, and plants that butterflies love. In Pittsburgh, she grows heirloom pole beans, bishop crown hot peppers, and leafy greens.

She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Connecticut and cum laude with a Master of Arts in Teaching from Quinnipiac University. She received fellowships and scholarships for writing conferences from Summer Literary Seminars, Wesleyan Writers Conference, and Writers in Paradise at Eckerd College. She attended Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference as a contributor in fiction for 2012 and as a contributor in nonfiction for 2017.

Her work has been read on NPR and performed publicly in South Florida. It has also appeared in The Cortland Review, Grey Sparrow, CALYX, Reed Magazine, The Palm Beach Post, The Washington Post and elsewhere. Her short story collection was short-listed for both the Eludia Award and the Serena McDonald Kennedy Award.

In early 2015, she invited Palm Beach County writers into her living room to read from their best work. In only three months, the group outgrew her home. Wishing to expand the literary energy in South Florida, Mallen founded The Cream Literary Alliance, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. It provides public readings, awards scholarships to emerging writers, and hosts craft classes by accomplished writers.

Read more about The Cream here.