Bio of Jocelyn Ajami

Jocelyn Ajami was a painter and filmmaker for over twenty years and founder of Gypsy Heart Productions. As an artist with a global perspective, Jocelyn has been the recipient of numerous awards, including major grants from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Leadership Foundation, International Women's Forum, and the Goethe Institute. In 2008 she served as an activist/grantee in Dublin, Ireland during the drafting of the international treaty banning cluster bombs. She turned to writing poetry in 2014 and has been published in several anthologies of prize-winning poems, including Encore (2018) in which her poem, Un Deseo, won the Founders Award/first prize, from the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, she lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.