Palline Plum is a visual artist and recovering social worker whose creative work spans both image and word. Her poetry has been published in Tiferet, regional journals, anthologies, and even on Kalamazoo’s Poetry in Buses project. Among her literary honors is a Grand Prize from the Dancing Poetry Festival in San Francisco—an achievement she describes as “a hoot!” Palline holds a BFA in Fine Art from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Sculpture from Queens College, CUNY. Her current artistic obsession is photographing flowers in all their stages—from lush bloom to fragile decay—capturing the beauty, drama, and inevitability of change. Her floral photography has been exhibited and sold in a variety of venues, and can be found online right here. Beyond her art, Palline has made a significant impact through cultural exchange. She has placed over 45 high school foreign exchange students from more than 20 countries into host families in Indiana and Ohio—work she considers vital to building understanding and a better future for our world.