Clara Castelar  is a freelance writer who grew up in Brazil where she studied languages and journalism. She has been a resident of Shepherdstown, West Virginia for thirty years. Her columns, features,  photographs, and book reviews have appeared in  The Martinsburg Journal, The Shepherdstown Chronicle, Goldenseal  Magazine, The Washington Business Journal, The Washington Post, Kulanu, Blue Ridge Country Magazine,   Dispatches from the Vanishing World, and in several other North American  publications. Her writing has also been published by   newspapers of Rede Globo, in Brazil and in Israel.  She is one of the writers featured in the anthology Under One Canopy, edited by Karen Primack. 

Castelar is fluent in English, Portuguese, French. She speaks serviceable Italian and Spanish. She may be reached at  richtext@frontiernet.net 

BLATANT SELF-PROMOTION--Castelar is honored that her profile appeared in The Jerusalem Post, Israel,  in March 2007.

This winter, one of her photos of a Shepherdstown garden appeared in the Metro section of the washingtonpost.com