Dorothea Barth is a Dutch-American poet, writer, and musician. She was born in Amsterdam and moved to the United States when she was nine years old. The dictionary soon became her friend, as she sought the definitions of new and peculiar words of a language she would grow to love. In high school, she became fond of diagramming sentences.
She always welcomed the opportunity to write, though writing was not her major at Stanford University. Her violin was her closest friend, and she could not imagine any other pursuit than music.
Little did she know then that when it became time to enter the real world, she would work with words as a technical writer and editor. Not the kind of work where you wait for a visit from the Muse, but it paid the bills and eventually allowed her to purchase a nice old violin.
She combines her creative writing and musical talents, often writing about music--whether it be an essay, interview, or poem. She finds that being a musician is helpful in writing poetry, especially since her preference is for metered verse.
Photo by Karina Salova
Photo by Bertram Barth
Copyright 2009 Dorothea Barth. All rights reserved.