Linda Schifino is a writer living in Pittsburgh. She holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Duquesne University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Carlow University where she is also Professor Emerita of Communication.  Linda is a long-time writer with Madwomen in the Attic, a diverse community of serious women writers who offer each other support and who share in their love of the written word. She also teaches writing through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

As the eldest member of her immediate family, Linda is the keeper of family memories and traditions. When she retired from full-time academia, Linda turned to writing essays about growing up in an Italian American enclave in Pittsburgh in the 1950s to preserve her family’s memories and as a salve to her painful loss of people and community. These essays later developed into Neighborhood Girl. Linda’s current writing project has taken her to a small village in southern Italy to investigate her ancestry and the mysteries surrounding the life of her maternal great-grandmother. 

Schifino has had essays published in Adelaide Magazine, Avalon Literary Journal, Brevity Blog, Northern Appalachia Review, The Write Launch, and elsewhere.

When she’s not writing, Linda spends time in her garden, her Latin cardio dance class, and reading. She also loves playing with her granddaughter, Alex, and exploring her Squirrel Hill neighborhood with her dog, Lizzie.

You can find Linda on Facebook at Linda Schifino | Facebook 

on Instagram at  Linda Schifino (@lindaschifino)

and at lindaschifino.com