Co-Founder and Editor

Angela is a poet, farmwife, mom, and owner of Hansen Painting. She was born and raised in the farmland of northeast Nebraska. She spent her childhood immersed in family and everything outside: the grove of trees, the crooked bridge down by the creek, and the surrounding countryside. She was writing stories on her blue typewriter by the age of eight. Angela attended country school, graduated from Wayne High School, and received a bachelor’s degree in English Writing from Wayne State College, where she first met Stephanie. Angela’s dream of writing and illustrating children’s books gave over to the practicality of working steady jobs, which over the years included librarian, assistant manager of a bookstore, baker at a college coffee shop, paraoptometric, paraprofessional at an elementary school, house painter, and presently, pursuing her Master’s in Writing and Publishing at Wayne State.

Angela lived in St. Louis, MO, and LaGrange Park, IL, before moving back to Nebraska. She bought an acreage between Wayne and Carroll, where she lives with her husband, Scott, four of their six children, goats, chickens, ducks, and a Derby dog. Angela enjoys baking, woodworking, gardening, creating, and finding just the right word. She started writing poetry in 2017, using it to heal from an abusive first marriage. Her poetry has been published in Nebraska Life magazine and most recently in her very own chapbook, Fencelines, by The Poetry Box, Portland, OR.

Angela reconnected with Stephanie in the fall of 2022 when painting the interior of her house. They are most definitely kindred spirits and enjoy coffee and poetry every chance they get. Angela tends to reach for the poetry of Ted Kooser, Mary Oliver, James Wright, and William Stafford. She loves using metaphor and imagery to capture the strength and tenacity of the plains. She knows firsthand that the roughest roads lead to the most beautiful views and that dreams are the whispers of the soul–listen.