Phyllis Walsh grew up on a farm near Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin in 1928. She received her
B.A. from Milton College. She then attended UW-Madison where she recieved her M.A. in
Library Science in 1957. She was the library director and children's literature instructor
at UW-Richland Library. After a cerebral aneurysm ruptured in 1975, Walsh underwent surgery
from which she had less than a 50% chance of recovery. While recovering from the surgery,
Walsh began to seriously work as a poet. She retired as a librarian in 1987. Three years
later, Walsh would establish the Hummingbird Press and the "Hummingbird" magazine.
"Hummingbird: Magazine of the Short Poem" was established in 1990 by Walsh with strong
encouragement from friend and poet, Cid Corman. Located in Richland Center, Wisconsin, Walsh
was the editor of the "Hummingbird" for twenty-two volumes until her death in 2012. While
the Hummingbird Press is most known for it's little magazine, the "Hummingbird", it also
published several other works of poetry by poets Vincent Tripi and Wally Swist.
