Sheila Bender

Sheila Bender co-founded WritingItReal.com in 2002 with her husband Kurt VanderSluis as a website dedicated to facilitating writing from personal experience. Over the years as the internet grew, the venue grew to include an array of online and Zoom classes as well as annual publications of anthologies. For five-plus years, Sheila produced the KPTZ FM radio program "In Conversation: Discussions on Writing and the Writing Life." She has taught for Centrum Foundation's Port Townsend Writer's...See more

Sheila Bender co-founded WritingItReal.com in 2002 with her husband Kurt VanderSluis as a website dedicated to facilitating writing from personal experience. Over the years as the internet grew, the venue grew to include an array of online and Zoom classes as well as annual publications of anthologies. For five-plus years, Sheila produced the KPTZ FM radio program "In Conversation: Discussions on Writing and the Writing Life." She has taught for Centrum Foundation's Port Townsend Writer's Workshop as well as writers' conferences and centers, colleges, and universities across the West and Southwest, including a stint as Distinguished Guest Lecturer for Seattle University. She lives in Port Townsend, Washington, where she nurtures a big vegetable garden and dreams and writes overlooking Discovery Bay. See less