The Wisdom of Words

Poet's Theatre
20th Anniversary Anthology

About the Contributors

Linda Allardt is the author of The Names of Survivors (Ithaca House), as well as River Effect.  Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Cincinnati Poetry Review, Poetry Northwest, and Poetry NOW.  She is associate editor at State Street Press and served as co-editor of Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Belknap Press, 1982).

Juan Amador, an Argentine-born American poet, has two books of poetry: Mosaic/Mosaico, a bilingual collection, and Nunca Mas.  He has translated American poets into Spanish and Argentine poets into English, has been published in numerous of books and magazines in both the U.S. and Argentina, and has participated in "Poetry Minutes" aired by Public Radio WVIA.

Todd Beers leads lively poetry workshops in Rochester, NY area schools and community settings which have included libraries, hospitals, and visits to the Monroe County Jail.  Author of the chapbook, O, he has edited many books of children's poetry including, Waiting Room: Writings By Children And Adult Patients In A Hospital Setting, which has received national recognition.

Karen Blomain teaches Creative Writing at Kutztown University in Kutztown, PA .  The author of four poetry books, Black Diamond, The Slap, Borrowed Light, and Normal Ave, she has also edited Coalseam: Poems from the Anthracite Region and coauthored The Rainbow, Writing the Research Paper.

Sandra Kerr Brown,retired from the V.A. where she worked as a counselor/administrator/therapist coordinating programs for disabled veterans, is published in academic research for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  She is involved in the prevention of abuse to endangered animals, as well as in prevention of abuse to women and children and domestic violence.

Jean Calkins published Jean's Journal for over 25 years. She is the present editor of Humoresque.

Hayden Carruth has published twenty-nine books, mostly of poetry but also a novel, four books of criticism, and two anthologies. His most recent book is Reluctantly: Autobiographical Essays (Copper Canyon Press, 1998).  Collected Shorter Poems, 1946-1991 was awarded the National Book Critics' Circle Award and Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey (1996),  received the National Book Award for Poetry.

Anne Corrado, a noted artist, poet and musician, is Past President of Composers, Authors and Artists and has served on the music committee for National Society of Arts & Letters. She has received the Outstanding Achievement Award from Fredonia University.

Tony Cosier is a popular Canadian poet with hundreds of published credits.  His poems have appeared in The Connecticut River Review, Time of Singing, and Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature.

Barbara Crooker has been the recipient of 3 PA. Council on the Arts Fellowships in Literature, 5 residencies at the VA. Center for the Creative Arts, and has had over 700 poems published in over 80 anthologies and magazines such as Yankee, Negative Capability, and The Christian Science Monitor.  She recently won the Y2K Writing Prize for Poetry from New Millennium Writings

Michael Czarnecki lives on Wheeler Hill with his wife and children. He began writing poetry 33 years ago, when a junior in high school. In 1985 he formed FootHills Publishing, a small press that has published over 30
chapbooks and books of poetry. Michael makes his living as a poet and oral memoirist.

Craig Czury received an Interdisciplinary Arts Commission from the Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia for his Tattoo Haiku poetry mural with inmates at Luzerne County Prison, Wilkes-Barre.  His poetry has been published in book form by Great Elm Press and Foothills Publishing, and has appeared in The Minnesota Review and Endless Mountains Review, among others.

Julie Damerell is a writer and teacher.  Her poetry has appeared on the internet in The Astrophysicist's Tango Partner Speaks, Conspire, Melic Review, Savoy, and Zuzu's Petals.  She’s also appeared in print versions of Bellowing Ark, ByLine, miller's pond, Moveo Angelus Literary Arts 2000 (also online), and the anthology Mother Voices.

Robert Darling's work has appeared in many prestigious literary journals, including Amelia, Blue Unicorn, The Formalist, Negative Capability, Sewanee Review, and Sparrow.  He is the author of two books, A.D. Hope (Twayne English Authors Series), and Boundaries (Somers Rocks Press).

Barbara Nector Davis is the editor of Voices for Peace and author of The Journey And Elders Of The Tribe. She has had numerous poems published.

Norm Davis was first published in Stake as a short story writer.  Since then he has had poetry published in many newspapers and small presses, including Hot Air, Lake Effect, and Hawk Migration Studies.  His chapbook, Rome Gothic, was published in 1991 by Landers & Francis.  He is the editor of Hazmat Review.

Dr. Alfred Dorn is a director of The World Order Of Narrative And Creative Poetry and past vice president of The Poetry Society Of America.   Widely published, Dr. Dorn has won over 70 awards for his poetry and is a frequent guest on N.Y. City Radio and at The New York Poetry Forum. He considers the New Formalists the most creative force in current American poetry.

Anita Dorn fled the Nazis as a young girl in Estonia, and writes vivid accounts of that period of her life. She is a cat fancier and fine poet.

Diana Donna Douglas, as a talented musician in piano, organ, accordian, and voice, has done extensive musical compositions and has taken part in many poetry readings and musical performances throughout the Southern Tier of NY.  The Sayre, PA. resident has also shared many prophesy oracles with numerous organizations and spiritual groups.

Graham Duncan haunts the wild trails of Northern Pennsylvania. He is an English professor at Oneonta State University and the author of The Map Reader from Great Elm Press.

Mike Finn is a storyteller, poet, actor, and teacher. He describes himself as "a backwards apprentice to the wild earth."  He is also a stained glass artist and ringmaster for Backyard Circus. He won Best of Show for both
poetry and sculpture at Woodstock. He has several books in print including Go On, Go Home, Get Out Of Here.

Sheldon Flory’s work can be found both in print and on-line at The BookPress, the Newspaper of the Literary Arts in Ithaca, NY and Sojourners, among others.  He received grants from the Saltonstall Foundation for the publication of four of his chapbooks.  He also served as a poet-in-residence during a month-long trip to England and Scotland.

Jerry Fong teaches chemistry at Alfred State College, Alfred, NY.  His scientific background helps him create poetry that can be compared to the works of Pattiann Rogers.  His award winning poems can be found in Festival, miller’s pond, and The Wolfhead Quarterly.  He co-authored a chapbook of poetry, All I’ve Known of Wanting (H&H Press, 1996), with Mary Carter Ginn.

Gail Ford is a poet, short-story writer, novelist, and publisher of Broken Shadow Publications.  She has been published in the Crazy Child Scribbler and Northern Contours, is a regular reader in the (San Francisco) Bay Area, and has poems forthcoming in Gyroscope.

Grace S. Fox is a retired English and social studies teacher married to Stanley Fox. They have six children and nine grandchildren. As Town Historian for the town of Avoca, in western N.Y., she has written three books of local history and eleven short histories of country schools.  She says her poems are "gifts of the spirit."

Walt Franklin is a teacher, naturalist, and writer with poetry and essays having appeared in hundreds of literary and small press magazines, including miller’s pond.  He is publisher of Great Elm Press.

Mary Carter Ginn is a freelance writer and columnist living in Wellsboro, PA. Her poetry and reviews have appeared in many small press publications including Ariel X, miller's pond, Festival, and The Endless Mountains Review. She co-authored a chapbook, All I've Known of Wanting (H&H Press, 1998), with Jerry Fong.

Betty Jane Harder, M.D., is the mother of six and grandmother of six. She has recently retired from Family Practice after a 48 year career.  As a bass clarinetist, fiction and poetry writer, creative endeavors continue to challenge her.

Rudi Holzapfel has published with the Irish authors Brendan Kennelly, Oliver Snoddy, and John Farrell, and his work has been anthologized in the Penguin Book of Irish Verse and Modern Irish Poets.

Akua Lezli Hope, an artist of many forms, including glass blowing, jewelry making and jazz poetry, says she creates to encode the African American urban technopeasant mythos, to heal, and to make good manifest. Her book, Embouchure: Poems on Jazz and Other Musics, was published by ArtFarm Press.

C.J. Houghtaling is a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.  She has over 200 published works in Byline, American Writer’s Review, Wild West, The Carousel News and Trader, The Wolfhead Quarterly, and many others.  Her “day” job involves running H&H Press and publishing miller’s pond poetry magazine.

Eric Machan Howd teaches at Tompkins-Cortland Community College, SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College; he has recently been published by Nimrod and Yankee Magazine.

M.J. Iuppa is a teacher, poet and frequent workshop leader for Writer's & Books in Rochester N.Y. and is curator of Genesee (NY) Reading Series.

Norman Ives says, “Writing has been my thing since grade school.  My teacher in third grade at Stone Dam Country School told me to stop writing and start studying.  My thoughts were, "Write On!"

Michael Jenkins is a microbiologist who has had many articles published in scientific (peer-reviewed) journals.  His poetry has appeared in miller’s pond and in Ursus, a journal of environmental issues, published at Cornell University.

Bobby Johnson has had four books of poetry in print, most recently Mr. Parker's Song Book.  He grew up on Clarissa St. in Rochester, N.Y.; and has been invited to write about the old neighborhood, which was lost to urban renewal, but lives on through yearly reunions and his poetry. He is a counselor at the NY State John Norris Treatment Center in Rochester.

Dave Kelly is a teacher, poet, and author of numerous books and chapbooks, both prose and poetry.  His collection Filming Assassinations received a Discovery Award.

Jeff Kennell  lives with his girlfriend Cordula Nixon, in Geneseo NY and teaches English at Avon Central School.  He is putting the finishing touches on a three volume poem concerning the lore of his childhood home, Arkport, NY.

Maurice Kenny has authored numerous books, including: Tekonwatonti, Molly Brant, 1735-1795: Poems of War.  His books Between Two Rivers: Selected Poems, 1956-1984 and Blackrobe: Isaac Jogues, B. March 11, 1607, D. October 18, 1646: Poems were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.  He is the recipient of a National Public Radio Award for Broadcasting  and received The National Book Award for The Mama Poems.

Judith Kitchen, associate editor for State Street Press, is the author of Only the Dance (essays), Writing the World (a critical study of William Stafford), and co-editor of two anthologies, In Short and In Brief (both W. W. Norton).  A second collection of essays, Distance and Direction, is forthcoming from Coffee House Press.  She teaches at SUNY Brockport, is a regular poetry reviewer for The Georgia Review.

Thomas Krampf’s published works include Shadow Poems, Satori West and the forthcoming Not an Apologia for Suicide, all from Ischua Books, as well as The Subway Prayer and Other Poems of the Inner City (Morning Star Press).  He has been a featured poet in The New Virginia Review, and has published in various magazines, including The New York Quarterly, Niagara Magazine, and The Purchase Poetry Review.

Michael Krupiarz lives in Rochester, N.Y. with his wife and two college-age children.  An ordained deacon in the Catholic Church, he teaches theology at Aquinas High School and is currently involved in projects to beautify the neighborhood.  His hobbies are writing poetry, fishing, wine making, and weight-lifting; and his poems have appeared in City Newspaper and Time of Singing.

Gerald A. Lazzaro is a teacher and poet with numerous poems published in small press magazines and anthologies, including Time of Singing.

Stephen Lewandowski has had several books of poetry published including Honey And Ashes by Tamarack Press, and Inside And Out by Crossing Press. He is an environmentalist and teaches creative writing.

Katharyn Howd Machan is an Associate Professor of Writing and Women's Studies at Ithaca College. With her husband and fellow poet Eric Machan Howd she leads an active family life, parenting CoraRose and Benjamin. She also performs and teaches and is the author of 18 published collections of poems.

Dennis Maloney works as a landscape architect and is also the editor and publisher of White Pine Press.  Previous books of his own work include The Pine Hut Poems and Sitting in Circles, the latter published in Japan in a bilingual edition.  His books of translation include Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s The Stones of Chile.

Clive Matson is a poet, playwright, short-story writer, essayist, teacher extraordinaire, publisher of the Crazy Child Scribbler, and author of Let the Crazy Child Write!  His books in print include Hourglass, Equal in Desire, and On the Inside.

Louis McKee hails from Hamil, N.Y. and lives, writes and teaches in Philadelphia, PA . As a widely published award winning poet, his work has appeared in Tar River Poetry, The Comstock Review, and BlueLine. He is the author of numerous books including, Schuykill County by Wampeter Press.

Joe-Anne McLaughlin was published in the Pushcart Prize Anthology, VII.  Her poems have appeared in numerous publications, including Poetry, The Georgia Review, Ploughshares, Harvard Review, miller’s pond and Southern Poetry Review, and her collection of poems, The Banshee Diaries (Exile Editions Ltd.) was published in 1998.

Gates Miller lived his life as a dairy farmer and prolific poet in the rolling hills of Upstate New York and loved to share his work at Poet’s Theatre.  His chapbooks, Wheat and Chaff: A Harvest Of Poems and Common
Sense and Udder Non-cents (Indian Valley Press) is a testament to both professions.

Rick Mitchell has had poetry published in numerous small press publications, including Odessa Poetry Review, Agate, and The Free Press, as well as in many anthologies such as, Many voices, Many Lands.

Howard Nelson’s poems and essays have appeared in Choice, Ironwood, Poetry East, and other magazines and anthologies.  He edited On the Poetry of Galway Kinnell : The Wages of Dying (University of Michigan Press) and is the author of a critical study of the work, Robert Bly : An Introduction to the Poetry (Columbia University Press) and the poetry book Creatures (Cleveland State University Poetry Center).

Barbara F. Nixon has done numerous readings in New York City and throughout Western N Y State. Her poems have appeared in Waterways, Poetpourri, Wordworks and other literary magazines.

David Michael Nixon has seen his work appear in many anthologies, including Voices For Peace, and his book, Season of the Totem (Linear Arts) is in its second printing.  You may find him at times teaching poetry at Writers and Books in Rochester, N.Y.

Beatrice O’Brien founded Poet’s Theatre in Hornell, N.Y. in 1981.  Her award-winning poetry has appeared in numerous  magazines and newspapers.  Her novel, One Track, has enjoyed regional success and was recently revised and published as non-fiction by Indus Publishers.  Her most recent poetry chapbook is Loon Lake Journal (H&H Press).

Joel Oppenheimer (1930-1988) was a poet, columnist, and teacher.  As a dedicated New Yorker, he became a voice of life for Greenwhich Village as a columnist for The Village Voice for 15 years. His works include On Occasion, In Time, The Woman Poems, Why Not, Marilyn Lives, New Spaces: Poems, 1975-1983, Just Friends, Friends & Lovers, Names & Local Habitations, Selected Poems and The Wrong Season.

Elaine Preston is Assistant Academic Chair/English at Suffolk Community College in N.Y.  As an award-winning poet, she is the author of Look for a Field to Land (Bridge Works Publishing) and Fishing Underground: A Poet's Guide to Creating, Publishing, and Beyond (H. & H. Press)  Her works have appeared in Poet Lore, Journal of Poetry Therapy, Poets On, Peregrine, miller's pond, LI Quarterly, and  Zone 3.

William Pruitt is a poet and storyteller. His work has been published in Ploughshares, Long House, Poetry Now, and many other small press publications.

Carol Reilly is a performance artist and poet.

Edward Jad Reilly  is an artist, editor, award winning poet and publisher of Mozart Park Press.

John Rezelman is one of those rare poets who can recite his work from memory.  A faithful regular at Poet’s Theatre, he has had many articles published in farm journals.

Frances Bragan Richman is the author of five poetry books, with works having previously appeared in Saturday Evening Post, Methodist Communication, and Blue Unicorn.  Her affiliations include the National League of American Pennwomen, the Rochester Poetry Society, and the Yates County Arts Council.

Stan Sanvel Rubin is the author of Midnight, a full-length collection, and Lost, a chapbook, both from State Street Press.  His poems have appeared in The Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, and others.  His literary interviews have been widely published and were collected in The Post-Confessionals: Conversations with American Poets of the Eighties.

Helen Ruggieri’s poetry has appeared in many magazines, including Primer, Aevum, and Images.  Her book, The Poetess (Uroboros Books/Allegany Mountain Press) grew out of a chapbook by the same title.

Ralph W. Seager teaches English and poetry at Keuka College. He has been a workshop leader and editor of Writings On The Wall, by inmates at Yates County Jail whom he mentored. He is the author of numerous books of poetry, including the award winning, Beyond The Green Gate.

Sybil Smith has had poetry in New England Review/Bread Loaf Quarterly and The Poetry Review, and fiction and non-fiction in Gulfstream Magazine and Yankee, among others.  A 1997 movie based on her unpublished book, My Mother's Early Lovers, was a finalist at The Austin Film Festival, won first prize at The New Haven Film Festival and was "Audience Favorite" at the Maine Film Festival.

Victoria Smith coordinated the Creative Writers of the Southern Tier for several years before she left  Wellsville, N.Y. She is member of  Pennwriters, Inc. and Georgia Writers.  Her interviews and reviews have
appeared in local and regional publications, including miller's pond, Genesee Country and Athens Magazine.

Judith Sornberger has had three poetry collections published: the full-length collection Open Heart(Calyx Books); Bifocals Barbie: A Midlife Pantheon (Talent House Press); and Judith Beheading Holofernes, (Talent House Press contest winner, 1993).  She has also won  the Vreeland Award For Poetry and the Academy Of American Poets Award. She teaches English and Women’s Studies at Mansfield University.

Tom Swiler is a farmer with his roots in poetry, as his chapbook, Grazing Write’s (Indian Valley Press) will attest.  He is a faithful regular at Poet’s Theatre.

Tom Taylor writes songs that range from social comment to romance, from the ridiculous to the very serious.  In 1988, he traveled to Texas to receive a Kerrville Festival New Folk Award in recognition for his song, Leveled Off,  the tale of a down-and-out musician reduced to eating his guitar.  He frequently entertains with his songs at Poet’s Theatre.

Ellen Tifft has had over 200 poems and 26 stories published in such prestigious journals as The New Yorker, The Yale Review, and Wormwood Review, with 25 poems seeing print in Europe.  She is the author of three poetry chapbooks, one poetry book and one novel, Moon, Moon, Tell Me True (1996, Xenos Books).  She won first place in the miller’s pond 2000 poetry contest.

David Tinling is a physician working in mind/body medicine.  As a conceptual artist, he has had several shows in the Rochester area.  His poetry has been published in small press magazines, and his novel is currently making the rounds.

Desire Vail is the author of 3 chapbooks of poetry from FootHills Publishing: See How Wet the Street Sounds, First Shine of Dawn, and In the Fold of a Hill just released.  Her works have appeared in numerous anthologies and small press publications, including Black River Review, Blue Unicorn, Kaleidoscope, Rosebud, and BlueLine.

Joe Vikin, Colombian born, has been in the U.S.since 1954. After teaching chemistry for 32 years, he retired to devote his time to history and lexicography. His poems have appeared in 13 Poetry Magazine, The San Fernando Poetry Journal, and The Corning Leader. His latest scholarly effort was the compilation of a Galician-English Dictionary, the first of its kind in the U.S., published by Hippocrene Press in NYC.

Mary Carol Wall is a part-time youth minister for her church in Avoca, N.Y.  With five children ranging in ages from 4-18, she is also very active at her children’s school.  She has been published in a regional calendar and has had poetry and an essay published in GreenPrints. She is currently working on several short stories and a mystery novel.

Charles A. Waugaman, former editor of Time of Singing, is a poet, writer, educator, pastor and artist. He has several books of poetry in print including, The Fabric Of Truth and Patterns Of Passing.

Barbara Williams enjoys putting lines on paper.  Sometimes they form a poem and she loves the sharing that occurs at Poet's Theatre and The Loon Lake Poetry Festival.  At present her roots are firmly planted in Allegany County in the Southern Tier of Western NY State.

Robin Kay Willoughby is a translator of French, German, Spanish, and Greek poetry. She has served as editor of small press magazines and director of Poetry On The Buses in Buffalo, NY

Jack Wonner lives on 75 acres with beaver dams and waterfalls. A retired nurseryman and farmer, he is a member of Second Tuesday Writers in Erie, PA .  His poems have  appeared in Time Of Singing, Second Tuesday Anthologies, and other small press publications.  Presently he is writing plays.

Marjorie Wonner is a local historian and geneologist who writes essays and poetry.  Most recently she has been published in Spoon River Quarterly, Pittsburgh Quarterly, Time Of Singing, and Second Tuesday Anthology.

Johnson Wood, also known as “Bill,” is a regular at Poet’s Theatre, often delights his audience with limericks and excerpts from his works-in-progress.

Leah Zazulyer’s recent publications include poems in the magazine Literal Latte, and prizes for poetry from the El Dorado Writers Forum and Judah Magnes Museum of the West.  With a poetry residency in 1998, she gave poetry readings at the American Literary Translators Conference in Mexico, and in New York City for The Jewish Immigrant Experience and Working Poets reading series.
 

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