Darlyn Finch is a Florida native, born and raised in Jacksonville. She attended Ed White high school before obtaining her Associate of Arts degree at Florida Junior College. She holds a bachelors degree as an English major, Writing minor from Rollins College in Winter Park. Darlyn is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction/Poetry from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.
She has a daughter, Rachel Shannon, who earned a bachelor of science degree in physics at Eckerd College in St. Pete.
Darlyn is a freelance writer, editor, speaker and coach. She writes and edits for Spectacle, a web-and-graphic-design firm in Orlando, and enjoys creative writing in several forms.
From December 2006 through February 2007, she was the Kerouac Project writer in residence, living and working in the house where Jack Kerouac wrote Dharma Bums and learned that On the Road was about to be published. Click here to view a video of her farewell reading at the Kerouac house from growingbolder.com.
She has worked in the Sports Department of the Orlando Sentinel, and has also published articles in the Florida Times Union/Jacksonville Journal and the Sandspur.
Darlyn is a repeat winner at the Mt. Dora Festival , a celebration of music and literature.
In 2003, she won first place in poetry for "At the Redlight." In 2004, the Festival awarded her second prize in creative nonfiction for her short story, "Valentine and Buster." In 2005, her story "Four Words, Written in Blue" won first prize in crative nonfiction, and in 2006 she garnered the top prize in CNF again for "Girls." Her memoir piece, "Holes," won second place in 2007.
