Toni Ortner grew up in Woodmere, Long Island and now lives in Vermont. She has had 31 books published by small presses. The most recent is Focused Light from a Distant Star by Kelsay Books 2023 which honors the art of women from the last two centuries.

Toni hosted the Putney Public Library Writers Salon 2022. The series included writers of poetry and fiction from Vermont and other states.

Toni gives readings in VT and NH in bookstores and libraries and, for 14 years, was Vice President of Write Action which is a nonprofit group that supports writers in Southern Vermont through events, contests, and publications. For 17 years her writing appeared in vermontviews.org under Old Lady Blog. The magazine just shut down.

She taught in the English departments of several colleges and universities, most recently the University of Connecticut’s Stamford branch. She has won grants from both Pen America and the Author’s League.

Her books are sold on Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and at the sites of the small press publishers.