Shanti Elke Bannwart was born in Germany at the onset of WWII and lived in Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Switzerland and Scotland. She moved to the U.S.A. in 1983 and studied in Cambridge, MA for her Masters in Expressive Therapies. She is a licensed psychotherapist and life-coach in private practice in Santa Fe NM. She is a clay artist educated at the Institute of American Indian Art and a writer who received her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. Shanti is devoted to “Reflective Activism” on the issues of war and peace, living with purpose and passion. Her essays have been published in national and international Magazines. She was awarded various winning prizes in literary competitions.