Julija Suput

Julija Šuput was born and raised in Zagreb, Croatia, where she earned degrees in French and Italian language and literature. In 2001 she moved to California with her two teenage sons; the years that followed — a marriage that ended, an immigration system that nearly separated her family, and a community that refused to let it — are the subject of her memoir *Picking Up the Pieces*, which Kirkus Reviews called "an often poignant story of resilience, motherhood, and navigating everyday life in a new land."

She holds an M.A. in Teaching Foreign Languages from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and taught Italian for many years in Monterey Bay adult schools. Her short stories "The Bouquet of Roses" and "The Return Home" appeared in anthologies from Wising Up Press. .