Fokkina McDonnell lives in Manchester.  She is a psychotherapist and supervisor in private practice, with a special interest in using EMDR for performance anxiety.   She has been writing short stories and poems for over 15 years with work being broadcast, published in magazines, journals and anthologies in the UK and the Netherlands.  Recent poems have also been shortlisted, highly commended and placed in national and international competitions, including the RedPage Sonnet Prize in the 14^th Ware Open Poetry Competition.  Fokkina is currently studying with Ann and Peter Sansom on the Writing School with a view to completing her first pamphlet.