Chuck Newell is an English teacher at Notre Dame High School and an award-winning sijo poet. He has taught sijo writing for the past nine years. He first became interested in Korea and Korean poetry because of the many Korean students who have attended his high school over the years. He has attended many seminars about Korean culture and has even traveled to Korea. He has three adult children and lives with his wife and two cats in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His cats are often the subject of his poetry.