Stram is a graduate of Portland State University and Idaho State University, with degrees in Anthropology. She also holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Boise State University. In a varied career, she was executive director of the Idaho Council on Domestic Violence; and was an adjunct professor, teaching anthropology and criminal justice courses at Boise State University. During her doctoral studies, she was a research fellow for the US Army Research Institute and published findings on computers in the classroom and on the history of the war in the Balkans. More recently, she conducted workshops on teaching at-risk youth; worked at an alternative mid-high school; researched and wrote archaeological project reports; and supervised secondary art student teachers. In retirement, Stram has taken up oil painting and is enjoying her family. She is married, has four grown children, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Dawn Stram has been published in small literary magazines throughout the Northwest, including Wild Dog, Litmus, Potpourri, Up th' Tube With One i (open), Pliego, The Willamette Bridge, Padma: The Matrix Issue, The Limberlost Review: Special Fandango Issue, and The Temple/El Templo. She is author of a poetry chapbook, roots & wings, published by Wine Press, Portland, OR; and is included in Pacific Northwestern Spiritual Poetry, Tsunami, Inc., Walla Walla, WA, edited by Charles Potts. Her book for youth and adults, Fat Ladies Shouldn't Have Orange Hair, is currently in press (Xlibris Corp., Bloomington, IN). Stram has read her poetry in Seattle, Portland, Boise, Grimes Creek, Idaho, and Walla Walla, Washington. She currently writes from Boise, Idaho.