Anneli has been writing since childhood. Growing up under the vast blue skies of the Canadian Prairies, she was barely inside long enough to eat and sleep. She credits her early years living on the land with nurturing her imagination and curiosity about the seen and the unseen worlds, for shaping her appreciation of animal and human relationships, and for helping her feel nature’s ability to nurture her.

Anneli has been involved in writing circles since the 1990’s when she began with Heartspace Writing School in Winnipeg. Her creative life and writing practice are greatly influenced by Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, and Natalie Goldberg, the beloved Zen and writing teacher and author of Wild Mind and other works. Anneli is grateful to have studied with each of them in person. She has also worked with storytelling teacher Janna Sobel, taking her True Stories for the Stage class at The Second City in 2017, and since then regularly participating in her live storytelling workshops. That process has honed her writing and opened the gateway for this current body of work. Hal Zina Bennett’s Write from the Heart has also impacted Anneli’s approach to writing.

Anneli’s stories have appeared in several anthologies, and she has read and performed in many Lit Events and international Storytelling shows. She is also a painter and creativity coach. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia and has a longtime love of the wide open spaces of the Southwest.