 An early rejection in 1959 by "Saturday Review" led to a meeting with the poetry editor John Ciardi who was also then the director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, to which he invited her to apply.She received a scholarship and attended what she would remember as a very important experience for her.Ciardi introduced her to Robert Frost, and it was there that she had her poetry workshopped by Dudley Fitts.