Loretta Tobin grew up on a North Dakota farm, and studied at the University of Valencia, Spain before graduating from Minnesota State University Moorhead. Her deployment as a female admin chief with NMCB 18 (Seabees) to Al Asad, Iraq was a life-changing event that left her questioning the norm and writing about her inner conflicts. Her poems have or will appear in print and online journals, including Calyx: A Journal of Art & Poetry for Women; Line of Advance; Military Experience & the Arts—As You Were; New Plains Review; and Southeast Missouri State University Press—Proud to Be. Now retired from the Navy Reserve and her career with the City of Everett, Washington, she divides her time between grandchildren and travel, sometimes combining the two.
