Participating Poets
Highland Park Poetry welcomes all poets - there is no geographic limitation. For more information on how to become a Participating Poet, query info@highlandparkpoetry.org.
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Marina Angione is a photographer as well as friend of the editor's daughter-in-law who just happened to be visiting Paris when HPP was looking for photos of Montmartre to accompany a poem in the Fall/Winter Gallery.
Ellen Blum Barish’s photographs have been featured in Still Point Arts Quarterly (Fall 2021), an exhibition at Curt’s Cafe (February 2015), numerous Northwestern University publications and the literary publications, Thread and Stitch. She is author of the memoir, Seven Springs (Shanti Arts, 2021) and Views from the Home Office Window, a collection of essays (Adams Street Publishing, 2007).
Dan Boyd is the author of View from the Back Window: Blue Collar Poetry on Life (North Orchard Press, 2021) and is the host of The Boyd Chronicles, a podcast. Dan says “I like taking a look back over our lives and discovering hind-sight is not always 20-20. We have the freedom to face our past with honesty and make corrections while we still can.”
Michael H. Brownstein's latest volumes of poetry, A Slipknot to Somewhere Else (2018) and How Do We Create Love (2019) were both published by Cholla Needles Press.
Teresa K. Burleson has been writing poems since she was 17 years old. To her, it is a
calling and ministry. She loves the challenge of communicating truth in a
clear, fresh and compelling way.
When not dipping chocolates or making pralines as an owner of Kilwins in Winston-Salem, Renee Butner spends her time writing poetry and haiku, and is a member of the NC Haiku Society. She has been published in journals including Verse of Silence, Haiku Journal, NC Poetry in Plain Sight, Ariel Chart, Acta Victoriana, and won second prize in Piedmont Plus Silver Games for her poem Silver Moments. Her poem Forest King earned a spot in the Highland Park Public Art Poetry Contest. Her website is www.reneebutner.wordpress.com.
Tim Callahan worked for over 20 years as an artist in the animation industry. His wife, Bon, also an artist, and he live in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains on the edge of the Angeles National Forest, where their yard is visited by deer, bears, bobcats, raccoons and rattlesnakes. He began seriously writing poetry in 2011 and has written both structured poetry (sonnets, villanelles, pantoums, etc.) and free verse.
Monica Cardestam spent many years in management in the practical business world before leaving to pursue more creative endeavors in art and writing poetry. She has had her work published in books and online as well as her art work being displayed in numerous venues on the North Shore.
Yahn Changming hails with Allen Yuan from poetrypacific.blogspot.ca. [poetry submissions are welcome year round]. Credits include eleven Pushcart nominations & eleven chapbooks (most recent LIMERENCE) besides appearances in Best of the Best Canadian Poetry (2008-17) & BestNewPoemsOnline, among 1879 others. Earlier this year, Yuan served on the jury for Canada's 44th National Magazine Awards (poetry category).
Hanh Chau lives in San Jose, California. She enjoys reading, creative writing, listening to music, and she works for Kaiser Permanente Hospital as patient care services representative.
Jackie Chou is a poet living in Southern California who writes to preserve the beauty of the urban landscape where she grew up. Her work has recently been published in Spillwords, Fevers of the Mind Poetry Digest, Highland Park Poetry, and others. She also enjoys watching Jeopardy and talent competitions.
Daniel Cleary was born in Tipperary, Ireland. He has lived in Chicago since 1968, and is a painter as well as a poet.
Linda M. Crate's poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has eight published chapbooks including the samurai (Yellow Arrow Publishing, 2020), and Follow the Black Raven (Alien Buddha Publishing, 2021) and two micro-chapbooks Heaven Instead (Origami Poems Project, 2018) and moon mother (Origami Poems Project, 2020). She is also the author of the novel Phoenix Tears (Czykmate Books, June 2018).
Gail Denham is a “sorta” retired writer, photographer and journalist.
Charlotte Digregorio has authored seven books including her poetry/reference: Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing, inspirational during life’s challenges. Libraries, corporations, hospitals, and galleries host her poetry exhibit, launched with Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All. Illinois Governor Rauner honored her for her decades of literary achievements (2018).
Jennifer Dotson is author of Late Night Talk Show Fantasy & Other Poems (Kelsay Books, 2020) and Clever Gretel (Chicago Poetry Press, 2013). Jennifer is a recent finalist in the 2021 Mary Blinn Poetry Contest and her work has been published in After Hours, East on Central, The MacGuffin, among others. She is the creative engine behind HighlandParkPoetry.org, which she founded in 2007.
Janz Duncan grew up in Singapore before completing her undergraduate and postgraduate English degrees in Canada and Scotland. Currently, she lives and works with her husband at Blenheim Lodge, their Lake District guest house. During spare moments, she enjoys writing and walking with her husband and rescue Great Dane. Her most recent poetry and prose were published by Heart of Flesh and Highland Park Poetry.
J. K. Durick is a retired teacher, who taught for years at Trinity College of Vermont and after that for many years at the Community College of Vermont. He and a friend are following the pandemic by writing a poem for every day – we now have written 570+ and plan to continue till we run out.
Olivia Maciel Edelman is author of several volumes of poetry including Sombra en Plata / Shadow in Silver; the monograph Surrealismo en la poesía de Xavier Villaurrutia, Octavio Paz, y Luis Cernuda; and translator of the novel In Spite of the Dark Silence, on the life of poet Jorge Cuesta, by Jorge Volpi. She received her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures from the University of Chicago, and was recognized with the Poet’s House Award (New York). She was born in Mexico City and resides in Chicago.
Idella Pearl Edwards and her husband of 61 years, Jack Edwards, live in Marion, Illinois. She has self-published several devotional books, poetry books and children’s books. In addition to spoiling the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her favorite pastimes are jigsaw puzzles, listening to Christian music, writing poetry, bird watching and photography.
Regina M. Elliott is 64 years old, residing in Fletcher, North Carolina, with her daughter, son-in-law, and two young grandchildren. She loves to read, bake, and do creative projects with her grandchildren.
Dan Fitzgerald lives quietly in Pontiac, Illinois, tending to home and garden. His poems have been published in The Writer’s Journal, PKA Advocate, Nomad’s Choir and many others. His work is also included in several anthologies.
Janea D. Harris is an author and poet who loves writing for people of all ages. She is a nominee for 2021’s, Best of the Net. Janea's published children's books include, Through the Window of Winter the Rabbit and All Girls Have Sup- HER Powers, The Power of Voice, available at www.supherbooks.com. When she is not writing, Janea loves spending time with her husband and children, partaking of the arts and volunteering with various community organizations on the North Shore of Chicago, Illinois.
Cynthia T. Hahn is a Professor of French language, francophone literatures and cultures, creative writing and translation at Lake Forest College and author of two books of poetry (one bilingual, self-translated) and around a dozen novel and story translations, by Lebanese, Algerian and French writers. She resides in Libertyville and is a member of Bluff Coast Writers as well as Highland Park Poets. She thinks of poetry as akin to music, and is addicted to West African drumming rhythms. She also plays bass ukele.
William D. Hicks lives in Illinois. His writing and artwork appear in numerous magazines.
Mark Hudson tells us “I got the idea for the poem Abstract Alice from a portrait painting class I took and the model told me about that artist (Alice Neel). I read a library book about her which inspired the poem. I live in Evanston, Illinois and more of my poems can be found at Illinoispoets.org.”
Caroline Johnson’s first full-length poetry collection, The Caregiver, was inspired by years of family caregiving and was released in 2018 by Holy Cow! Press (Duluth, MN). Two poems from that collection were featured on Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac” in 2020. Although she has lived in Budapest, Germany and London, she enjoys being grounded in a forested southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, with her husband and two cats. Visit her at www.caroline-johnson.com, on Facebook, or Twitter (@twinkscat).
Dr. Richard V. Kaufman is a retired gardener, runner, a practitioner of occult arts who still reads a lot and casts spells.
Candace Kubinec lives a peaceful life in Western Pennsylvania where she writes from a comfy chair with a cat on her lap and a cup of tea at her side. You can read more of her poetry at www.rhymeswithbug.com.
Arlene Gay Levine is the author of 39 Ways to Open Your Heart: An Illuminated Meditation (Conari Press) and Movie Life (Finishing Line Press). Her prose and poetry have found a home in The New York Times, numerous anthologies, and journals including Chiron Review, The MacGuffin, and Frogpond. She has served as a judge for The Illinois State and Virginia State Poetry Society Contests.
Terry Loncaric is the author of Poetry in an Age of Panic and Crashing in Velvet. Her poems have appeared in newspapers, magazines, anthologies, and in public spaces. A veteran journalist, she has lectured on feature writing at Roosevelt University and Columbia College.
Lennart Lundh is a poet, photographer, short-fictionist, and historian. His work has appeared internationally since 1965.
Joan Luther introduces herself thus: “You may have noticed my VA accent but migrated to Illinois at the age of 2 so I also picked up a northern accent. Graduated in Marketing so I can tell stories to my customers or bad jokes (is there such a thing as “mom jokes”?), aka Joan Jokes. Photography is a life-long passion, as is creative writing, fostering dogs, learning the woes of an empty nest (yes, wrote a poem about it), between jobs (yep, poem there too), and poetry is a new creative outlet.”
William Marr, a bilingual (Chinese/English) poet, has published over 30 collections of poetry and several translations. His poetry has been translated into more than ten languages and included in high school and college textbooks in Taiwan, China, England, and Germany. A former president of the Illinois State Poetry Society, he now lives in Downers Grove.
Bruce Matteson informs us: “I started the habit of writing my musings down in scribbled notes when I was quite young, which led to editing the high school literary magazine. Then I found hunting and fishing. Now I am too old to get around much in the woods, so I have returned to poetry, the only other species I can still manage to murder. Presently I am holed up in Yorktown Heights NY with my laptop and some oil paints, planning to take a few pot shots at some canvas while trying to elude the ever relentless and unforgiving art critics, who seem to take poaching more seriously than any fish and game warden I ever encountered.”
Susan McClellan is a writer living in Pittsburgh, PA. Her work has appeared in Knack Magazine, The Atherton Review, and the Trouvaille Review.
Joan McNerney’s poetry is found in many literary magazines and has four Best of the Net nominations. Her latest title is At Work available at Amazon.com.
Michael Minassian is a Contributing Editor for Verse-Virtual, an online poetry journal. His chapbooks include poetry: The Arboriculturist and photography: Around the Bend. His poetry collections Time is Not a River, Morning Calm, and A Matter of Timing are all available on Amazon. For more information: https://michaelminassian.com
Wilda Morris, Workshop Chair, Poets and Patrons of Chicago, and past President of the Illinois State Poetry Society, has published widely in anthologies, webzines, and print publications and won awards for formal and free verse and haiku. Her most recent collection is Pequod Poems: Gamming With Moby-Dick. Her poetry blog at wildamorris.blogspot.com features a monthly poetry contest.
Lakshmy M. Nair is a scientist, writer, and nature photographer who lives in the suburb of Chicago. She is a native of Kerala, India. She writes both in English and Malayalam, her native language. Her debut book, “A Lament,” a collection of poems, is available on www.amazon.com. Her poems were also published in other anthologies: Winter Moments, Coffee, Tea & Other Beverages, Driving Cars: Poems about Getting Here, There, and Everywhere in Automobiles, The Majesty of Trees: Poets & Artists Respond Root, Trunk, & Branch, Poetry is a Mountain, and East on Central, Volume 19.
Howard Nemeroff is a transplanted Hoosier with roots firmly established in Chicago. Having planted himself, he makes a living planting for his clients. He marvels with each unfolding season.
Toti O’Brien is the Italian Accordionist with the Irish Last Name. Born in Rome, living in Los Angeles, she is an artist, musician and dancer. She is the author of Other Maidens (BlazeVOX, 2020), and An Alphabet of Birds (Moonrise Press, 2020).
Carl “Papa” Palmer of Old Mill Road in Ridgeway, Virginia, lives in University Place, Washington. He is retired from the military and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) enjoying life as “Papa” to his grand descendants and being a Franciscan Hospice volunteer. Papa’s Motto: Long Weekends Forever!
René Parks is currently working on her MFA in Poetry. She writes in a variety of received forms blending sensory and emotional experiences with images of nature and animals in order to bring awareness to human connection with the natural world.
After nurturing her students in the classroom for 32 years, Marianne Peel is now nurturing her own creative spirit. Marianne taught in Guizhou Province, China, for three summers and also volunteered at Kara Tepe Refugee Camp in Lesvos, Greece. She has her first book forthcoming this fall from Shadelandhouse Modern Press.
Ann Privateer is a poet, artist, and photographer. Some of her recent work has appeared in Third Wednesday and Entering to name a few. She is retired from teaching and also loves to garden.
Jenene Ravesloot Jenene Ravesloot’s poetry has appeared in the Daily Poems Plus of Highland Park Poetry, East on Central, After Hours, Packingtown Review, and other journals. She has received a 2021 Best of the Net nomination.
Marjorie Rissman is an active poet and enjoys helping the team organize the monthly meet ups in addition to being the treasurer of East of Central Association, the organization that publishes East on Central journal. She also participates in Deerfield Poets, ISPS, and Poets and Patrons.
Tom Roby IV is the author of three books of poetry and is a member of Poets & Patrons, and the Illinois State Poetry Society. His most recent work has been published by the Daily Poems Plus of Highland Park Poetry.
Sue Roupp, a longtime former resident of the North Shore, now lives permanently in Vermont and is the author of Memoir Writing in Six Easy Steps. She was recruited to teach writing for VT Wind Ridge Publishing in 2011-12, workshops UW Madison Writers Institute, workshops, public speaker, host of TV show smalltalk etc. and more, check out www.sueroupp.com
Christine Kierstead Sheeter went to Waldorf School when she was eight years old. She explains, “That brief education gave me the fortitude to be rooted in my ever shape-shifting creative method of living. I have a degree in Environmental Biology. I endure adult refractory epilepsy. I write and paint and refer to myself as a gregarious loner.”
Alice Marcus Solovy was born Chicago, lived in Skokie for many years and moved to Highland Park, Illinois eight years ago. She has two lovely daughters, two very nice sons-in-law, and four wonderful grandchildren. She believes our lives include choices we make as well as events that happen because they are meant to occur.
Pat St. Pierre is a poet, writer, and photographer for both adults and children. Her work has been widely published both online and in print. Her fourth poetry book, Not As It Seems, is now for sale. She is currently a poetry editor for Kitchen Sink Magazine.
Jacqueline Stearns holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Media Communications from William Paterson University. She is proud to have won a first place in Highland Park Poetry’s 2021 Poetry Challenge on Fruits and Vegetables. She also enjoys reviewing books for Highland Park Poetry.
Suzanne Elia Stephan
Kay Thomas is a painter, a teacher of Asian art and crafts and a poet. She has studied art in Japan, China and Taiwan. Fun fact: Lotus is a sacred flower in both Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the path to spiritual awakening and enlightenment. The Chinese regard the plant as a symbol of longevity.
A wife, mother and proud grandmother of nine grandchildren, Lori Wall-Holloway resides in Pasadena where her poetry appears regularly in the Spectrum anthologies. She enjoys capturing moments in the lives of those she loves and hopes her work will give encouragement to subsequent generations. Her poems have been published in various publications throughout the years including the Altadena Poetry Review, Lummox and the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly.
Lynn West says, “Sharing my poetry and photography fills my soul. I enjoy hosting a monthly poetry reading at The Art Center in Highland Park. My work has been published and featured in a variety of venues. I enjoy being associate board member of East on Central. Thank you Highland Park Poetry for including My Pillow Cries in the Fall/Winter Muses’ Gallery.”
Bruce Whitaker was born and raised in the Philly suburbs. He was given a taste of travel in Europe as a teen and later finished a fine arts major at Dickinson with a semester in Vienna. After a 30-year career with USDA-ARS as a plant biologist, he retired with his wife in 2014 and moved to her family farm in west Michigan. Bruce adds, “We both love visiting European destinations, most recently including a few days of chateau hopping in the Loire Valley in France.”
Court Williams is an Episcopal Priest who was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and spent most of his adult life in Chicagoland. When not writing poetry, short stories, and plays he enjoys spending time outdoors hiking in the forest preserves, and if time allows, he goes to work!
Michael P. Wright explains: “My poem is about an investigator as I majored in Criminal Justice at university.” Michael has been writing poetry since 2006 and has been published on many subjects ranging from shoes to protest movements.
R. M. Yager is a retired nurse/teacher/photographer whose topics are marginalized, at risk populations, poetry is her vehicle to deliver words most people find unspeakable, hopes to offer inclusion, wants to stop you in your tracks with controversial humor/tragedy within family and relationships, but she also loves whimsy and humor.
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Emma Alexandra, poet, historian, avid walker and hiker, celebrates her immigrant’s journey from Morocco to Chicago’s Humboldt Park Neighborhood in the early 1960’s to Highland Park, Illinois in 2000 with her poetry collection “It’s Long way from Casablanca to the Shores of Highland Park.” She has collaborated with several Highland Park visual artists such as Sumner Garte, Yelena Klairmont, and Howard Jacobs creating poetry for their work and the artists creating visual art for her poetry. She believes that collaboration between visual artist, musician, performance artist, and poet liberates the human mind’s intriguingly complex Musescape. She is dedicated to promoting the artistic and practical preservation of the natural environment whose inspiration is essential to creative health.
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Susan B. Auld lives in Arlington Heights. Her free verse poetry, haiku and haibun have been published both online and in print journals. She is a member of the Haiku Society of America and the Illinois State Poetry Society. Susan teaches Continuing Education writing classes for Township 214 that encourage new writers and writers who wish to use writing to heal.
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Mary Jo Balistreri has two full books of poetry, Joy in the Morning and gathering the harvest (Bellowing Ark Press), and a chapbook, Best Brothers (Tiger's Eye Press). She has recent or forthcoming work in Parabola, Grist, The Hurricane Press, Plainsongs, The Tiger's Eye, Avocet, Crab Creek Review, Quill and Parchment, The Heron's Nest, Acorn, and A Hundred Gourds. Poetrystorehouse has offered videos of two poems. She has six Pushcart nominations, and two Best of the Net. She was a poetry judge for Arizona Writers Association for two years and just recently a judge for Wilda’s blogspot.com. Mary Jo is one of the founders of Grace River Poets, an outreach for women's shelters, churches, and schools. Please visit her at maryjobalistreripoet.com
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Lois Baer Barr - A graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Languages and Linguistics, Middlebury College’s Spanish School and the University of Kentucky, Lois is a professor of Spanish at Lake Forest College. Her poems and stories have been published in Persimmon Tree, The Examined Life, Journal of Modern Poetry, Flashquake, Poetica, Phat’itude, East on Central, Ekakshara, The DuPage Review, The New Vilna Review, The Jewish Literary Journal and Mochila. Six anthologies have included her work. She has received Pushcart nominations for poetry and fiction. Her books, articles and reviews on Spanish and Latin American literature, with a special focus on Latin American Jewish Literature, have appeared here and abroad. Her chapbook Biopoesis won Poetica Magazine’s 2013 contest. You can see more about her at https://www.amazon.com/author/loisbaerbarr
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Deerfield resident Herb Berman is a lawyer/labor arbitrator, reader of poems, and sometime-poet. His poems have been published in about 20 literary magazines, and his book of poems will be published in 2014.
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Mary Beth Bretzlauf is working on her first book of poems. Many of her poems have appeared in several East on Central and Highland Park Poetry’s Muses’ Gallery anthologies. Several of her short stories and poems have won local writing contests. She is chapter facilitator for the North Chapter and Board member of the Illinois State Poetry Society. Mary Beth lives in Northeastern Illinois with her granddog, Wrigley. The Majesty of Trees, Poets & Artists Respond Root, Trunk & Branch is her third editing collaboration with Jennifer Dotson.
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Lorraine Brown lives in Chicago with her husband Greg. She has been writing poetry and short stories since childhood. Her poem Cheaters received 1st place, non-resident in Highland Park Poetry’s 2010 Funny Poetry contest and Looking back at me received 1st place in HPP’s 2011 Rhyme & Time contest. Her poems What my momma said and He won’t eat my soup were included in CRAM 9 and CRAM 10; along with her poem Once in CRAM 11. Lorraine is an actress and voice over talent for television & radio; co-founder of the Chicago Bulls Cheerleaders (The Luv-A-Bulls) and former NFL-Chicago Bears Cheerleader (The Honeybears). She shares some of her interests on her blog, A multi-dimensional life... http://lorrainelorrainelorraine.blogspot.com
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Michael H. Brownstein has been widely published throughout the small and literary presses. His work has appeared in The Café Review, American Letters and Commentary, Skidrow Penthouse, Xavier Review, Hotel Amerika, Free Lunch, Meridian Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, The Pacific Review, poetrysuperhighway.com and others. In addition, he has nine chapbooks including The Shooting Gallery (Samsidat Press, 1987), Poems from the Body Bag (ommation Press, 1988), A Period of Trees (Snark Press, 2004), What Stone Is (Fractal Press, 2005), I Was a Teacher Once (Ten Page Press, 2011), Firestorm: A Rendering of Torah (Camel Saloon Press, 2012), The Possibility of Sky and Hell: From My Suicide Book (White Knuckle Press, 2013) and The Katy Trail, Mid-Missouri, 100 Degrees Outside and Other Poems (Kind of Hurricane Press, 2013). He is the editor of First Poems from Viet Nam (2011). He currently resides in Jefferson City, Missouri.
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Mary Beth Bretzlauf is currently working on her first book of poems. Many of her poems have appeared in several East on Central and Highland Park Poetry’s Muses’ Gallery anthologies. Several of her short stories and poems have won local writing contests. She is chapter facilitator for the North Chapter and Board member of the Illinois State Poetry Society. Mary Beth lives in Northeastern Illinois with her granddog, Wrigley. The Majesty of Trees, Poets & Artists Respond Root, Trunk & Branch is her third editing collaboration with Jennifer Dotson.
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Joseph Kuhn Carey's collection, Postcards From Poland received the Journal of Modern Poetry Book Award and was published by Chicago Poetry Press in early 2014. Postcards from Poland garnered numerous awards and recognition. His newest collection, Black Forest Dreams: A Journey Through Germany (Kelsay Books, 2021), has already been awarded 1st Place in both the 2016 Amsterdam Book Festival as well as 2016 Northern California Book Festival. He is a Grammy-voting member of The Recording Academy and recipient of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor award for music-related writing (for articles about jazz composer/musicians Carla Bley, Anthony Braxton, and Charlie Haden). He's published a chapbook of poetry ("Bulk-Rate") and a book on jazz (Big Noise From Notre Dame: A History of the Collegiate Jazz Festival) and has released two Loose Caboose Band CDs of original children's songs with his brother, Bill ("The Caboose is Loose" and "Mighty Big Broom," the latter garnered two first-round Grammy nominations). He earned his B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, and a M.S. in Mass Communication from Boston University. He's interviewed bakers for Bakery Magazine, written about jazz and blues artists for Downbeat, JazzTimes, and The Boston Globe. His poems have been selected in the Writer's Digest 7th Annual Poetry Awards Contest & 80th Annual Writing Competition as well as the Evanston Library's 35th Annual Jo-Anne Hirschfield Memorial Poetry Awards. He's been published by East on Central, the Journal of Modern Poetry, Highland Park Poetry and more. When not scribbling entertaining poems, stories and songs on all available scraps of paper to read to his wife and kids over dinner, he runs a multi-state property management business.
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Tricia Marcella Cimera is a Midwestern poet with a worldview. Her work appears in many diverse places — from the Buddhist Poetry Review to the Origami Poems Project. Her poem The Stag won first place honors in College of DuPage’s 2017 Writers Read: Emerging Voices contest. Tricia lives with her husband and family of animals in Illinois / in a town called St. Charles / by a river named Fox / with a Poetry Box in her front yard. Visit The Fox Poetry Box on Facebook!
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Kathy Lohrum Cotton of Anna, Illinois, is a poet and collage artist whose work has been published in literary journals, magazines and anthologies and as posters and greeting cards. Cotton is the author of three poetry collections; including the 2012 illustrated volume, Deluxe Box of Crayons. She supports poets and poetry by editing/designing poetry books and by serving on the board of directors of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies as Encore editor, and the Illinois State Poetry Society as facilitator of the Southern Chapter and ISPS newsletter editor. Samples of her illustrated poetry are available at: www.minddances.yolasite.com
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Gail Denham’s short stories, essays, news articles, poetry and photos have been published in a wide variety of publications nationally and internationally. Denham leads photo and writing workshops at various Pacific Northwest conferences. Her photography is meant to have the meaning of “story”. In all her work, humor plays a big part, plus family closeness. Denham and her husband have four sons and 14 grandchildren, plus a few greats. They live near Sunriver, in Central Oregon where photo opportunities of the great outdoors surround them. Her poem, "Save That Smile" was selected for the 2015 Poetry That Moves Contest. Gail says she is thankful for the outlets for poetry such as Highland Park Poetry. "I take advantage of submissions to this contest, that anthology, on-line possibilities. Especially enjoy the story contests -- those that say "narrative" or "story". Perhaps that's because I began life (almost) as a story teller and most of my previous writing career has been stories. Often I start with the first line, try to figure out a name that fits the idea and I'm off, never imaginging where that poem will lead. The greatest satisfaction is to breathe a big sigh, laugh, or say "ahhhh" at the ending."
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Charlotte Digregorio has authored seven books including Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing and Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All. Libraries, corporations, and hospitals host her poetry/art exhibit. The Governor of Illinois honored her for her literary achievements. Her blog features global writers: www.charlottedigregorio.wordpress.com. She’s won 65 poetry awards, has received four Pushcart Prize nominations, and translates poetry books from Italian into English.
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Jennifer Dotson studied acting on the East Coast when the siren song of Chicago's storefront theater scene lured her to the Midwest. Along the way she stumbled into writing, first with plays and later poetry. Her poems have appeared in After Hours, Caravel Literary Journal, DuPage Valley Review, East On Central, Exact Change Only, Poetry Cram/J.O.M.P., Grand Little Things, The MacGuffin, Panoplyzine, and Willow Review. She has poems included in several anthologies including A Midnight Snack, from Poetic License Press. Her debut collection, Clever Gretel, was published by Chicago Poetry Press in April 2013 and is available on Amazon.com. In 2020, Kelsay Books published her second collection, Late Night Talk Show Fantasy & Other Poems. Check out her new author page at www.JenniferDotsonPoet.com. She teaches creative writing, memoir and poetry through "Library U" at Highland Park Library and leads workshops such as "Performance Skills for Poets," "Poetry for the Apocalypse," and "How-To Poems: From the Functional to the Fantastic." Jennifer is thrilled that what started as a small idea to recognize local poets in the community has grown and bloomed into Highland Park Poetry.
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| Photo Credit: Martha Abelson Photography |
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Mary Ann Eiler’s poetry has been published nationally and internationally and translated into Chinese. She studied with Ilya Kaminsky (Iowa Summer Writing Festivals) and was a participant in poetry at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Her poetry won awards from Poets and Patrons, the Alliance Française (Chicago), and the International Association of Sufism. She authored physician publications for the American Medical Association, served as judge for international technical writing and high school poetry competitions, and holds a diploma from the Institute of Children's Literature (Connecticut) for her manuscript Annie's Doll - A Study of World War II on the Home Front. Mary Ann holds a PhD in Linguistics and loves France. When she is not traveling the world, she lives in Oak Park, IL with her dolls.
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Michael Escoubas - Michael began writing poetry for publication in August of 2013. Early in life his mother said, You have a gift for words; I hope you do something with that gift. Michael writes poetry, in part, because of his mother’s encouraging words and because he believes poetry brings people together. Michael has published one chapbook, Light Comes Softly, which is available by contacting the author.
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Diane Funston lives in Marysville, California. She has been appointed as the 2020-2021 Poet-in-Residence for Yuba Sutter Arts and Culture. As such, Diane created and facilitates Poetry Square, a monthly live online poetry reading featuring three poets plus herself reading their own work. She features poets with diverse voices as well as reading from diverse geographical locations via the Internet. Diane created a poetry group in Tehachapi, California in 2001, where she lived for almost twenty years, and she is still involved with today. She is also very active in Sacramento poetry and poetry in her hometown area of Rochester, New York. Diane holds a degree in Literature and Writing from CSU San Marcos, California. She has been published in a variety of anthologies and is putting together her first chapbook.
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Mary Jane Gabrielsen began writing poetry in the winter of 2003, noticing an ice-covered window in the office of their late 50’s Colonial. She lives in Deerfield with her husband, Gary, and two sons, Kevin and Brian. With a B.S. degree in Administration of Parks and Recreation from Eastern Illinois University, and graduate studies at DePaul University, she has a keen interest in the influence nature plays in our daily lives, and a fascination with the interplay of familiar characters and their effects upon our perceptions in a fast-paced landscape of visual commonality. Her work has been published in recent editions of East on Central, A Journal of Arts and Letters. She has been a student member of Poet's Attic, Highland Park, since 2003 and enjoys participating in open mic poetry readings at Highland Park Library.
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Joseph ("Joe") Glaser - Originally educated in Engineering Physics and Mathematics at Cornell, CCNY (BS) and NYU (MS), most of Joe's career was spent in technical business management. In retirement, he dove into Liberal Arts, got an MLA from the University of Chicago, and began writing poetry in 2008. His poems have appeared in The Journal, printed by Northwestern University's OLLI program, the online Front Porch Review, Decades Review, Muses’ Gallery of Highland Park Poetry, the printed Journal of Modern Poetry (JOMP-16, 18, 19, winning best modern poem prize and Pushcart nomination in 2013), Distilled Lives 2 and Distilled Lives 3 anthologies printed by the Illinois State Poetry Society, East on Central print Journal of Arts and Letters. Joe also pursues candid photography, especially when traveling, and his photos have been published in some of the same media as his poems.
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Marne Glaser was raised in the suburbs of NY, and after several rehearsal moves, found herself living in Chicago some 27 years ago and has stayed put ever since. Her training has been in music, psychology, and education, but she was an English major for a few months, and she did win the limerick prize her freshman year of college. Much of her writing falls into the verse and lyrics category, often lighthearted, but occasionally deep. She has been known to include songs of her own writing when she performs with some of Chicago's fine jazz musicians. As a new direction, and a bit of a discipline for her errant ways, she's been trying out haiku of late--the real kind, not 5-7-5. Twice she has participated in HPP's Poetry Pentathlon, plus the bus poem contest, and some Madame ZuZu readings. On the side, she's just finished two years as one of the Directors of the Off-Campus Writers Workshop in Winnetka where she continues to contribute as the Facebook czaress.
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Carol L. Gloor has lived for 75 years, and hopes she’s learned something—it seems to vary from day to day. Her poetry has appeared in many online and hard copy journals, most recently in Gyroscope. She has upcoming poetry in the hard copy journal Glimpse in the online journal AJI Magazine, and in the anthology Aunt Flo. Somehow, she never tires of reading and writing poetry.
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Gail Goepfert is a poet, amateur photographer, and teacher. Currently, she is an associate editor of RHINO Poetry. A Mind on Pain is her first chapbook—publication Finishing Line Press 2015. She is published in a number of anthologies and journals including Avocet, Off Channel, After Hours, Caesura, Florida English, Jet Fuel Review, and Examined Life Journal and online at Emerge Literary Journal, Ardor Literary Magazine, Room Magazine, and Bolts of Silk. She was a Poet of the Month for YourDailyPoem.com. Two of her poems rode PACE buses as part of our Poetry That Moves contest. She’s been a semi-finalist for Journal of Modern Poetry and Mississippi Valley Poetry Contest, and she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2013 and 2014. She has photographs online at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Olentangy Review, 3Elements Review, and in February 2015, one of her photographs will appear on the cover of Rattle, She received a month-long residency at Lake Forest's Ragdale Foundation in April 2014. She spent time in Brockport, New York, studying Gilgamesh and its implications for the classroom thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities. Gail was born and raised in the Midwest states of Illinois and Ohio, from near the Piasa Bird along the bluffs of the Mississippi to the eagle-watch waters of the river near the Quad-Cities, from the Glass City, Toledo, Ohio, to a long and present stay in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. You can find her online at gailgoepfert.com.
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John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Sheepshead Review, Poetry Salzburg Review and Hollins Critic. Latest books, “Leaves On Pages” “Memory Outside The Head” and “Guest Of Myself” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Ellipsis, Blueline and International Poetry Review.
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Kathleen Gregg lives with her husband and one cat in the beautiful Bluegrass region of Kentucky, where storytelling is as much a tradition as bourbon distilling and horse racing. Kathleen studied under the current Kentucky Poet Laureate, Jeff Worley, for a year through the Author Academy program at Carnegie Center in Lexington. She is actively involved in the Kentucky State Poetry Society, presently serving as treasurer. Kathleen is honored to be a Participating Poet at Highland Park Poetry.
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Cynthia Hahn has been a Professor of French at Lake Forest College, teaching language, literature, culture, film, translation and creative writing since 1990. Hahn's first poetry chapbook, Outside-In-Sideout, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2010; it gives voice to the process of grieving. Cynthia's second volume of bilingual poetry (French-English), Co-ïncidence(s), was published by alfAbarre Press (Paris) in 2014. It is illustrated by Parisian artist Monique Loubet. This volume meditates on the theme of life as a journey and much of the bird imagery reflects movements of the soul. She presented the book at two Salons du Livre: in Chicago at the Alliance Française and in Gatineau, Quebec in Spring 2015. She writes poetry in French and English and has published over 50 poems in a variety of journals, books and online venues, most recently with East on Central and the Ekphrastic Review. She regularly publishes literary translations (poetry and prose), and has translated French writer Olivier Lebleu, Tunisian Hédi Bouraoui, Algerian Noureddine Aba, Lebanese authors Evelyne Accad and Ezza Agha Malak, as well as East African writer Abdourahman Waberi. She has translated Michael Tyler's rhyming children's book, The Skin You Live in into French (2020). She plays West African drums in "Diamana Diya," and bass guitar in "Fast and Cheap". Visit Cynthia's web site - www.cynthiathahn.com
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Jacqueline Harris was born and raised in Lake County and currently resides in North Chicago, IL. She is a graduate of Shimer College with a BA in Humanities. She is a writer of poetry and short fiction, as well local spoken word artist. She has published two short stories and is currently working on a poetry CD. Her first collection of poetry is Random Acts of Verse.
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Janea D. Harris is an author and poet who loves how creative writing has the ability to elicit all types of emotions in people. She enjoys writing for people of all ages and is often inspired by real-world events. Her published children’s books include, Through the Window of Winter the Rabbit (2020) and All Girls have Sup-HER Power, The Power of Voice (2019). Janea's poetry is published in multiple poetry Anthologies. Additional details can be found at www.supherbooks.com. When not writing, Janea enjoys the performing arts and volunteers with various community-based education organizations. Janea lives with her husband, daughter and son on the North Shore of Chicago, Illinois.
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Kate Hutchinson recently retired from a 34-year career as a high school English teacher. Her most recent books include A Matter of Dark Matter, to be released in the spring of 2022 by Kelsay Books, and Map Making: Poems of Land and Identity (2015, THEAQ Press). Kate is active with several local poetry organizations, including serving as contest chair for Chicagoland Poets & Patrons. She will begin working in 2022 as assistant editor for the literary arts journal East on Central in Highland Park. Find more of her work at: https://poetkatehutchinson.wordpress.com/
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Julie Isaacson has lived in Highland Park since 1982, where she also taught Special Education and Early Literacy. Since retiring from North Shore School District 112 in 2013, Julie has enjoyed exploring a variety of passions. She has published works in East on Central and Voices and Visions of Sister Cities. She authored two books, The Angry Chef: Satisfying Recipes Inspired by Unsatisfying Relationships. In addition to writing poetry for Highland Park Poetry, she enjoys writing courses at Lake Forest College and Story Studio in Chicago. While enhancing her craft through her studies, Julie also teaches writing skills to adolescents in her Highland Park home. Another avenue of her interests involves her participation as a storyteller for Short Story Theatre. Julie is grateful for being able to enjoy the best of all worlds, and the new, creative friends she’s met through her endeavors.
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Caroline Johnson has two poetry chapbooks, Where the Street Ends and My Mother’s Artwork, and more than 70 poems in print. A nominee for the Pushcart Prize and Best of Net, she has won numerous state and national poetry awards, including the 2012 Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row Poetry Contest. Her writing has appeared in Lunch Ticket, Rambunctious Review, Origins Journal, The Quotable, Encore, Naugatuck River Review, Blast Furnace, New Scriptor, Prairie Light Review, Kind of a Hurricane Press, among others. She served as president of Poets & Patrons of Chicago for four years and leads poetry workshops for veterans and others in the Chicago area. An English teacher for 20 years, she now works as a community college academic advisor. Her first full length collection of poems, The Caregiver, is forthcoming from Holy Cow! Press in May 2018.
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Edward P. Kaufman, MSW, LCSW, BCD, is the Director of Child & Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. He is in private practice in Chicago and Highland Park, Illinois. Mr. Kaufman has written numerous papers on child and adolescent psychotherapy, psychological development and the emotional aspects of teaching and learning. He has written about films and leads professional study groups on films. He is an editor and contributor to Emotions and Learning Reconsidered: International Perspectives published by Gardner Press in 1993. Mr. Kaufman is interested in music, scuba diving, photography and poetry.
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Steve Klepetar lives in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where he taught literature and creative writing at Saint Cloud State University. Klepetar’s work has appeared worldwide, in such journals as Boston Literary Magazine, Deep Water, Expound, The Muse: India, Red River Review, Snakeskin, Voices Israel, Ygdrasil, and many others. Several of his poems have been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize (including three in 2017). He has also done several collaborations with composer Richard Lavenda of Rice University in Houston, including a one-act opera, Barricades, for which he wrote the libretto. Klepetar is the author of twelve poetry collections and chapbooks, the most recent of which include Family Reunion (Big Table), A Landscape in Hell (Flutter Press), How Fascism Comes to America (Locofo Chaps) and Why Glass Shatters (One Sentence Chaps).
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Tricia Knoll was born in Highland Park in 1947 during the middle of a heavy snowstorm. Her parents brought property during World War II but couldn't build until after the war. Her father served as President of the School Board when Red Oak School was built and delivered her diploma to her in the first graduating class from Deerfield High School. She now lives in Williston, Vermont. Her poetry appears widely in journals and anthologies and has received 9 Pushcart Prize nominations and one Best of Net. She has four collections in print - Urban Wild (Finishing Line Press), Ocean's Laughter (Kelsay Books), and Broadfork Farm (The Poetry Box, poetry about life on a small organic farm in Trout Lake, Washington on the slopes of Mt. Adams). How I Learned to Be White from Antrim House received the 2018 Indie Book Award for Motivational Poetry and includes poems about her life growing up in Highland Park. A new book called Checkered Mates is coming out from Kelsay Books in 2021.Website: triciaknoll.com
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Candace Kubinec lives in Greensburg, Pennsylvania and is a member of the Ligonier Valley Writers. Her poems and short stories have appeared in The Loyalhanna Review, Highland Park Poetry Muses' Gallery and Kind over Matter. She is a finalist in the 2015 Poetry That Moves competition.
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Jill Angel Langlois began writing short stories at the age of eight and poetry at the age of twelve. Her poems and short stories have appeared in literary magazines, anthologies and newspapers in the Chicagoland area as well as nationally and internationally. She holds a B.A. in English & American Literature from Governors State University, University Park, IL. As a judge for the Florida State Poetry Society, she maintains that the beauty of a poem is written with truth in the heart of the poet. Scattered Petals, her first collection of poetry, explores the healing power of nature. Whiskey Nights, her second poetry collection, in progress, is inspired by both whiskey and music. Excerpts from these collections can be found at www.illinoispoets.org
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Michael Latza has been published in several literary journals, including, The Solitary Plover, Red River Review, Willow Review, and Bear River Review. He has also published nonfiction on the Prairie Home Companion website. Michael studied poetry under the late James Liddy, in the fall of 2007, in Milwaukee. Michael was born in Chicago. After a career as a mailman for 25 years, he teaches English, composition, literature, and creative writing at the College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL, where he also edits the creative writing journal, Willow Review. Mr. Latza earned his MA in English from Loyola University of Chicago.
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Joan Leotta tells stories on page and stage. Her poems, essays, articles, and short stories have been widely published. She has been a Tupelo 30/30 writer and a Gilbert Chappell Fellow. She performs personal and folk tales of food, family, and strong women in libraries, at schools, in museums and at festivals. To relax and think up new tales she walks the beach, collecting shells. She has four poetry books in print (or online). Languid Lusciousness with Lemon (Finishing Line Press), Nature’s Gifts online with Stanzaic Stylings, Dancing Under the Moon, and Morning by Morning, mini-chapbooks with Origami Press.
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Lennart Lundh is a poet, photographer, short-fictionist, and photographer. His work has appeared internationally since 1965, including twenty-seven books and several exhibitions.
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| Photo by Chuck Bennorth |
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An award-winning writer and editor whose work has appeared in East on Central, Elle, North Shore, and other publications, Carol Spielman Lezak holds a B.A. in fine arts from Boston University and an M.A. in medical librarianship from the University of Michigan. She also studied fine bookbinding under the late William Anthony and is a biographee in Marquis Who's Who in America. Her perspective: While a picture may indeed be worth a thousand words, poets use their love of and skills with language and words to paint their own canvases that can be viewed with the inner eye. Lezak developed an appreciation for the art early on via her mother, whose collection of works by poets as diverse, entertaining, and insightful as Dorothy Parker, Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare, and Ogden Nash stirred her daughter's imagination.
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Terry Loncaric is a journalist, poet, and perpetual truth seeker. Her poems have appeared on storefronts, in magazines, and in anthologies. She has lectured on feature writing at Columbia College and Roosevelt University. She contributes entertainment stories to Pioneer Press in the Chicago suburbs. She has won many awards for her feature stories in Indiana and Illinois newspapers. She works as a teaching assistant in the Special Education Department of Hoffman Estates High School. Loncaric loves empowering students with learning disabilities to conquer their fears of writing. Her first chapbook, Crashing in Velvet, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2014.
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Olivia Maciel Edelman received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Olivia Maciel was awarded the First Prize for Poetry in Spanish by Northeastern Illinois University (2014), Poet’s House Award, New York City (1996) for one of three best books of poetry in the U.S., for Más salado que dulce / Saltier than Sweet (March Abrazo Press), and the José Martí Award for essay writing in homage to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, awarded by the University of Houston and the Consular Body of Houston (1993). Maciel is the author of Shadow in Silver (Swan Isle Press), Filigree of Light (Swan Isle Press), and Cielo de Magnolias. Cielo de Silencios (Pandora Lobo Estepario Ediciones), among other publications. Olivia Maciel enjoys reading, taking walks, and listening to music. Sometimes she draws, paints, or takes photographs. Olivia Maciel was born in Mexico City and resides in Chicago. She is currently a professor at North Central College.
Olivia Maciel Edelman recibió su doctorado en la Universidad de Chicago. Olivia obtuvo el Primer Premio de Poesía en Español otorgado por Northeastern Illinois University (2014), el Premio Casa del Poeta, Nueva York, por uno de los mejores tres libros de poesía en los Estados Unidos por Más Salado que Dulce (1996), y el Premio José Martí, otorgado por la Universidad de Houston, y el Cuerpo Consular de Houston, por ensayo en honor de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1993). Maciel es autora de Sombra en plata (Swan Isle Press), Filigrana encendida (Swan Isle Press), y Cielo de Magnolias. Cielo de Silencios (Pandora Lobo Estepario Ediciones), entre otras publicaciones. A Olivia le encantan la lectura, los paseos al aire libre, y la música. De vez en cuando pinta, dibuja, o toma fotografías. Olivia Maciel nació en la Ciudad de México y reside en Chicago. Actualmente es Profesora en North Central College.
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Marjorie Maddox. Sage Graduate Fellow of Cornell University (MFA) and Professor of English and Creative Writing at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, Marjorie Maddox has published eleven collections of poetry—including True, False, None of the Above (Poiema Poetry Series); Local News from Someplace Else (Wipf and Stock); Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation, (Yellowglen Prize); and Perpendicular As I; the forthcoming Wives’ Tales (Seven Kitchens Press)—the short story collection What She Was Saying (2017 Fomite), and over 450 stories, essays, and poems in journals and anthologies. Co-editor of Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania (Penn State Press), she also has published two children’s books with several forthcoming. For more information, please see www.marjoriemaddox.com
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William Marr has published 23 volumes of poetry (two in English and the rest in his native Chinese language), 3 books of essays and several books of translations. His most recent published work, Chicago Serenade, is a trilingual (Chinese/English/French) anothology of poems published in Paris this year. His poetry has been translated into more than ten languages and included in over one hundred anthologies. Some of his poems are used in high school and college textbooks in Taiwan, China, England, and Germany. In addition to writing poetry, he has also engaged in translating Western modern poetry into Chinese and has edited several anthologies of Chinese and Taiwanese modern poetry. He is a former president of the Illinois State Poetry Society and has received numerous awards, including three from Taiwan for his poetry and translations. A PhD recipient and a scientific researcher by profession, he has been in recent years pursuing other artistic interests including painting and sculpting and has held several solo as well as group exhibits in the U.S. and China. His Website, The Art World of William Marr (http://feima.yidian.org/) displays some of his important literary and artistic works.
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Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary zines such as Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Halcyon Days and included in Bright Hills Press, Kind of A Hurricane Press and Poppy Road Review anthologies. She has been nominated four times for Best of the Net.
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Bruce McNutt is a physician who spent 10 years in private practice and the last 22 years in the pharmaceutical industry. He is the proud father of 4 grown children and has three grandchildren. He has been married to his hero, his wife Martha for 37 years and has a friend—a beautiful golden retriever Barkley who is his constant companion. His family and friends have provided him with the impetus for his poetry which he began creating after the birth of his first grandchild in 2004. Bruce believes that each of us is a poet and need only free the feelings and emotions that are at the core of our being in order to share that poetry with others.
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Adrian McRobb poet-author-photographer, was born in West London. Brought up in Feltham-Germany-North Yorkshire, Adrian joined R.N. as an Engineer after short apprenticeship at Eutectic Welding Co. Now resides in the North of England, in Cramlington Northumberland. His poetry has appeared in literary magazines including, First Time, The Linnets Wings, Forward Press and charity anthologies for ‘Mind’ and ‘Shelter.’ Past holder of the Lowford Trophy for writing excellence, he is a Kindle author and has six publications on Amazon.
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Arlyn Miller teaches poetry to young people in the schools and in the community through Poetic License, Inc., an organization which she founded and directs. A poet herself, her poems have been published in journals such as Calyx, Jewish Women's Literary Annual, and Literary Bohemian. Two of her poems are to be published in May 2009 in the on-line journal, Literary Mama. She lives in Glencoe with her husband and three children. Check out her Web site at www.poeticlicenseinc.net.
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Edward Morin writes poems about animals and birds in which he tries to take them as seriously as they take themselves. His third poetry collection, The Bold News of Birdcalls was released by Kelsay Books in January 2021. His other collections are Labor Day at Walden Pond and The Dust of Our City. Transportation: Hot Tunes and Blues from Motor City (1988) is an album of his recorded original songs. His poems have been published in Hudson Review, Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly Review, Prairie Schooner, River Styx, The MacGuffin, and elsewhere. His co-translations of modern Chinese and Greek poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Iowa Review, New Letters, TriQuarterly, Chariton Review, and Two Lines: A Journal of Translation. His recent co-translations of poems by Arab authors Yousef el Qedra and Khaled Jumaa have been published in Banipal: Magazine of Modern Arab Literature, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Asymptote, The Dirty Goat, and Catamaran. He is currently a co-host of the Crazy Wisdom Poetry Series of readings and a writers’ workshop in Ann Arbor, MI. With graduate degrees in English from The University of Chicago and Loyola University (Chicago), he has taught English and writing at Wayne State University, University of Michigan, and five other universities and colleges.
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Khalid Mukhtar lives in Bolingbrook, a suburb of Chicago, with his wife and four children. He was born and raised in India and immigrated to the US in 1998. He works as a software engineer in Deerfield. He is an avid enthusiast of traditional poetry styles and that is where most of his poems fall. He contributes regularly to his blog at khamuk.com where he solicits feedback from his gradually growing online readership. In addition to poetry, Khalid is an aspiring novelist and has completed two works of fiction drama over the last two years. He is actively seeking to publish them as he carries out research for his third novel.
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After having taught middle and high school English for 32 years, Marianne Peel is now nurturing her own creative spirit. She has spent three summers in Guizhou Province, teaching best practices to teachers in China. She received Fulbright-Hays Awards to Nepal (2003) and Turkey (2009). Marianne participated in Marge Piercy’s Juried Intensive Poetry Workshop (2016). Marianne’s poetry appears in Muddy River Poetry Review, Naugatuk River Review, Belle Reve Literary Journal, Jelly Bucket Journal, Gyroscope Review, among others. She has a collection of poetry forthcoming in September 2021 from Shadelandhouse Modern Press.
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Marilyn Peretti of Glen Ellyn loved having her poem, Moon Rain, appear on a bus through the Highland Park Poetry program! She is pleased that 12 poems have been published at New Verse News, online, since these poems are expressions of her views on current events and political topics. She won first prize twice in the Ann Arbor newspaper contest and enjoyed the celebrations there where her son, Tom, lives. So there are many enjoyable activities related to poetry writing, besides publishing in journals and her self-illustrated books published on blurb.com. She's published in Kyoto Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Fox Cry Review, Journal of Modern Poetry, Grey Sparrow, Snowy Egret, and others. Also a nomination for Pushcart Prize. Marilyn is an artist and exhibited with the Nature Artists’ Guild for 26 years, so some of her poetry books contain her own artwork.
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Patty Dickson Pieczka's second book, Painting the Egret's Echo, won the Library of Poetry Book Award from The Bitter Oleander (2012). Other books are Lacing Through Time (Bellowing Ark Press, 2011) and a chapbook, Word Paintings (Snark, 2002). She won the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest in the Best Sonnet category (2014), first prize in the 2012 Illinois Poetry Society contest as well as the Frances Locke Memorial Award (2010). She graduated in Creative Writing at SIU. Writing has appeared in many journals such as Bluestem, Green Hills Literary Lantern, Versedaily.org, and Willow Review.
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Marcia J. Pradzinski is a retired ESL instructor who taught at the University of Illinois Chicago. She is the author of two books of poetry, Left Behind published by Finishing Line Press in 2015 and As One Day Slips Out of the Shoe of Another released by Kelsay Books in 2021. She was born and raised in the Chicago neighborhood, now dubbed The Ukrainian Village. Her family didn't travel much, but hearing a variety of languages – Polish, Ukrainian, and Spanish – enriched her childhood. She served as a poetry judge for the Society of Midland Authors, and is a board member of Poets & Patrons. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in RHINO, Paper Swans Press-UK, After Hours, Aeolian Harp Anthology Six, Poetica Review, and The Examined Life among others. She has received awards from Journal of Modern Poetry, Jo-Anne Hirshfield Memorial Contests, Highland Park Poetry Challenges, and Pen2Paper.
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Ann Privateer is a poet, artist, and photographer. Some of her recent work has appeared in Third Wednesday and Entering to name a few. Ann grew up in the Midwest and now resides in California.
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Donna Pucciani, a resident of Wheaton, Illinois, has published poetry globally in such diverse journals as Shi Chao Poetry, Poetry Salzburg, Acumen, Iota and Gradiva. A seven-time Pushcart nominee, her most recent book of poems is EDGES.
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Jenene Ravesloot is a member of The Poets’ Club of Chicago, ISPS, and Poets & Patrons. She is also a member of the Omniphonic Trio, a sounds-of-poetry band. She has written four books of poetry. Her poems have been published in the Caravel Literary Arts Journal, The Poetry Storehouse, Connotation Press, Packingtown Review, The Miscreant, After Hours Press, Exact Change Only Press, and other journals.
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Sylvia Riojas Vaughn is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. She has been selected as a Houston Poetry Fest Juried Poet three times. She belongs to the Dallas Poets Community. Her work has appeared in Red River Review, Tradae, HOUSEBOAT, Diálogo, Beyond the Hill (Lost Tower Publications, 2017), The Muses' Gallery, Desde Hong Kong: Poets in Conversation with Octavio Paz, Bearing the Mask: Southwestern Persona Poems (Dos Gatos Press, 2016), and in anthologies and journals in the U.S. and abroad.
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Marjorie Rissman comes to Illinois via New York, Michigan and Massachusetts. After a long sabbatical from writing and the death of her sister, she has picked up where she left off. Her poems can be found online at HP Poetry's Muse's Gallery, or in the last three issues of East on Central, and the 2014 ISPS anthology. She participates regularly at HP Poetry's open mic events and is a 2019 Pushcart Prize nominee. The 2014 Poetry Pentathlon was her most ambitious competition. In addition to writing, Marjorie is a Highland Park real estate broker, active in local politics, devoted to her four grandchildren and committed to repairing the world.
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Donna Ritter discovered a fondness for written expression through a high school creative writing class. Since 2006 she has been journaling her insight after morning Bible reading and has progressed to writing poetry, biography and memoir, showcasing God's awesome power, strength and love. She credits her writing ability to her relationship with God, seeking His wisdom in prayer before she writes every day. Her poems have been published in Highland Park Poetry's Muses' Gallery (Fall 2010, Fall 2014, Winter 2016) and in the 2012 and 2016 Highland Park Poetry Challenge Chapbooks.
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Kathleen Robinson facilitates the Champaign-Urbana chapter of the Illinois State Poetry Society. Following a career of technical and scientific editing, she has rediscovered the joy of writing poetry that she last experienced in high school. After retiring from Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2014, Kathy immersed herself in humanities studies and the University of Illinois branch at the Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning. Her poems are philosophical reveries on community and family life, and gardening in all its many senses. She has published online and reads regularly at open-mics.
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Tom Roby IV publishes and performs his poetry in Chicago. He is President and critique leader of The Poets' Club of Chicago. He is also a member of the Illinois State Poetry Society and Poets & Patrons. His poems have appeared in After Hours Press, Exact Change Only, Poetry Fish, Frog Pond, and other poetry journals, and anthologies, well as on north suburban PACE buses. Tom has published a chapbook, Griever's Circuit (Fractal Edge Press, 2004), and two other poetry books: Shape Shifter (The Puddin'head Press, 2008), and Pressure Points (Bendinger, 2012). His poems were presented as poetry-theater at the Loop Theater. With The Poets’ Club of Chicago he has developed the Poetry Wheel in which each poet reads explicitly in relation to the previous poem. The Wheel has performed at various poetry venues and fests, including Chicago Public Libraries. He is also part of Omniphonic, a trio that performs poems with sounds-of-poetry. It has hosted the annual Omniphonic Challenge for poetry bands and produced a CD. Tom’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/tom.robyiv
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Sue Roupp has relocated with her husband to Wisconsin. Highland Park Poetry is indebted to Sue for her energy and enthusiasm which inspired several of our past programs and contributed so greatly to our growth and spreading the word on the North Shore. Sue is a poet and a teacher who is generous with her gifts. Sue says: "Poetry writing focuses on an intense emotional connection in an economy of words and carried along by the inherent craft and rhythm of each line. This "less is more" style of writing allows the writer to capture the essence of meaning while providing a universal story through metaphor or the give and take of each word bumping or caressing each other as we move through the poem." Sue served as the Guest Judge for our 2015 Poetry That Moves Contest.
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Tania Runyan is the author of the poetry collections Second Sky, A Thousand Vessels, Simple Weight, and Delicious Air, which was awarded Book of the Year by the Conference on Christianity and Literature in 2007. Her book How to Read a Poem, an instructional guide based on Billy Collins’s “Introduction to Poetry,” was released in 2014. Her poems have appeared in many publications, including Poetry, Image, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, The Christian Century, Atlanta Review, Indiana Review, Willow Springs, Nimrod, and the anthology A Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare. Tania was awarded an NEA Literature Fellowship in 2011. She tutors high school students, writes for the Good Letters blog, and edits for Every Day Poems and Relief.
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Nancy Ann Schaefer (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen, UK) is a retired academic who recently relocated to rural Maine. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies, journals, and Web sites; a few have won awards. In Search of Lode, her first chapbook, was published by 918studio (2012). Her poem “Glad grace” was selected for display in two Chicago suburban libraries as part of National Poetry Month (2014), and “Ahimsa” has been chosen as the June entry (2015) in the Poetry That Moves Contest by Highland Park Poetry. Nancy lives with her husband, dog and three cats and is now revising her next poetry collection. In her spare time she volunteers to drive puppies (from kill shelters) to Lewiston, in central Maine, where they stay/are fostered until their ‘forever homes’ are found. Thanks for taking a look.
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Marjorie L. Skelly's cross-genre book, The Unpublished Poet: On Not Giving Up on Your Dream, published by In Extenso Press in 2015, consists of essays, short stories, and poems. She has won first place awards from Poets & Patrons, the Jo-Anne Hirshfield Poetry Memorial Contest, and the Palatine Public Library. She hwas twice reached semi0finalist status for the Word Works Washington Prize for a poetry book as well as in the Gwendolyn Brooks Open-Mic Contest. Marjorie has taught writing at several universities and libraries in the Chicagoland area. She is also a singer and has sung with North Shore Choral Society, Edgewater Singers, and loves signing the Jazz/Gospel version of Handel's Messiah known as "Too Hot to Handel." She lives in Chicago with her husband Jim and daughter Maggie.
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Alice Marcus Solovy enjoys her family of two daughters, two sons-in-law, four grandchildren, and her extended family. During the pandemic she has met a few family members outside and has attended zoom family events. Alice has kept busy with knitting, writing, baking, and streaming during the pandemic. Like everyone else, she eagerly awaits a return to in-person activity.
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Pat St. Pierre is an author of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Her fourth poetry chapbook will be published in 2021. She is widely published both online and in print. Some of her poems have been published in Three Line Poetry, Ephrastic Review, Jellyfish Whispers, Pangolin Review, Scarlet Leaf River, Highland Park Poetry, etc. Her fiction and nonfiction have also been widely publishedwhile her photography has adorned the covers and pagesof Mountain Tales Press, Minute Magazine, Poetry Pacific, Touch Journal, Plants and Flowers and others.Her blog is www.pstpierre.wordpress.com.
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Jacqueline Stearns holds a B.A. in Mass Media Communications from William Paterson College, now University. She has been published in the Highland Park Poetry Muses’ Gallery, and has been published in the 2014, and 2018 Montclair Write Group Sampler Anthologies. Her flash fiction is included in The Montclair Write Group Flash Fiction Anthology of 2019. She was an associate editor of New Jersey Peace Action Peace Poems.
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Christine Swanberg’s books include Tonight On This Late Road, Invisible String, Bread Upon The Waters, Slow Miracle, The Tenderness of Memory, The Red Lacquer Room, Who Walks Among The Trees With Charity, The Alleluia Tree, and Wild Fruition: Sonnets, Spells, and Other Incantations. She has published about 600 poems in about 100 journals and anthologies. She is the first inaugurated Poet Laureate of Rockford, Illinois.
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Judith MK Tepfer was born at the age of 50, before which she had one middle initial and neither the ability nor the inclination to write creatively. Her late-in-life muse directed her to other writers and visual artists and the eventual founding of East On Central, a Journal of Arts and Letters from Highland Park, Illinois. Editor-In-Chief of East On Central, poet, and freelance editor, Judith's writing can be found in Poetica Magazine, Journal of Modern Poetry, Collage (Lake Forest College) and the online publication, Pirene's Fountain (www.pirenesfountain.com).
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Taunja Thomson's poetry has appeared in The Cincinnati Poets’ Collective, The Cincinnati Poetry Review, The Licking River Review, The Aurorean, Lime Hawk Collective Arts Journal, Really System, Squalorly, Wild Age Press, This Dark Matter, Melted Wing, The Cahaba River Journal, Sandy River Review,Watershed, Portage Magazine, Panoply Magazine, The Ekphrastic Review, Winamop, Amore (an anthology of love poetry), Potomac, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Ekphrastic Review, Halcyon Days, CQ California Poetry Society, Surreal Poetics, Masque and Spectacle, Peacock Journal, Zingara, Heyday Magazine, Half-Baked, The Light Ekphrastic, Crawl Space, the Chicago Press’s The Poetry Writer’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Golden Walkman Magazine, The Mages Lantern, Red Omnivore Review, Claudius Speaks, and Pink Panther Magazine. Her poem A Sailor’s Language has recently received an Honorable Mention in Causeway Lit.’s poetry contest. In the upcoming months, her work will be featured in These Fragile Lilacs and Placeholder Magazine. She co-authored a chapbook of ekphrastic poetry entitled Frame and Mount the Sky that was published in June of 2017. Her chapbook, Strum and Lull, placed in Golden Walkman’s chapbook competition. She is a Pushcart nominee. Check her our on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TaunjaThomsonWriter. Taunja resides in Kentucky with herhusband and six cats, where she practices kickboxing and water gardening.
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Judith Tullis lives in Indian Head Park with her husband, Lee. She is Treasurer of the Illinois State Poetry Society and a member of Poets & Patrons of Chicago. Her poems are published in Distilled Lives: 20th Anniversary Anthology, the DuPage Valley Review, Seeding the Snow and several internet sites.
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Curt Vevang is a Chicago native and a product of the Chicago Public Schools. He has an engineering degree from the University of Illinois. He has published three poetry books, “a scant bagatelle”, “the nature of things”, and most recently, “poetry as we like it”. He has also published two rhyming children's books illustrated by 6th grade students. All five books are available at Amazon, keyword Vevang. His poetry has been published in anthologies, poetry magazines, and various poetry websites. He has won honors from the Illinois State Poetry Society, Poets and Patrons, the Journal of Modern Poetry, the Northbrook Arts Commission, and the Poetry Society of Tennessee. Most recently his poetry won first place in the Humor category in both 2019 and 2020 poetry contests sponsored by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.
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William Vollrath recently retired and relocated to beautiful and historic Charlottesville, Virginia where he has finally found time to focus on writing, after varied experiences as a grave digger, ad salesman, college English instructor, real estate appraiser, bartender, political activist, stock broker, substitute teacher, volunteer, father and husband. He hopes that sharing his varied experiences, perceptions, frustrations and joys will be both good therapy for himself and may even provide some moments of lasting illumination for others. His poetry has won numerous awards and been published in a variety of journals, anthologies, e-zines and web sites.
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Jamie Wendt is the author of the poetry collection Fruit of the Earth, which won the 2019 National Federation of Press Women Book Award in Poetry. Her poems, essays, and book reviews have been published in various literary journals and anthologies, including Feminine Rising, Lilith, Jet Fuel Review, Literary Mama, the Forward, Third Wednesday, and Saranac Review. She holds an MFA from the University of Nebraska Omaha. She teaches high school English and lives in Chicago with her husband and two children. Visit https://jamiewendt.wordpress.com/
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Lynn West lives in Highland Park and says, "I gather my poetry and photographs from the soul. When life brings bricks, stones, sun, shade, I filter through a medium that reflects and pleases my inner muse. My writing originated as an escape from a reality I couldn't cope with. The muse emerged and took many delightful forms. I have been writing for 7 years and have recently been published in East on Central. My favorite aspect of creativity is getting to know local artists and sharing our unique ways of looking at the world."
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Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality. Her poem 'A Rose For Gaza' was shortlisted for the Theatre Cloud 'War Poetry for Today' competition 2014. This and many other poems, have been published in recent anthologies including - Stacey Savage’s ‘We Are Poetry, an Anthology of Love poems’; Community Arts Ink’s ‘Reclaiming Our Voices’; Vagabond Press’s, ‘The Border Crossed Us’; ‘Degenerates - Voices For Peace’, ‘Civilised Beasts’ and ‘Vagabonds: Anthology of the Mad Ones’ from Weasel Press; ‘Alice In Wonderland’ by Silver Birch Press, and many rather excellent on line and print journals.
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Michael P. Wright is a native Chicagoan currently residing in Highwood and a published poet. Mr. Wright dabbled with poetry in the mid 1990’s and started writing again in August, 2006. What began as a joke to a neighbor has escalated to readings throughout Chicago and winning first and second place in Highland Park Poetry’s 2013 Poetry Challenge in the Sports and Games category. Mr. Wright has dabbled in journalism, writing for a The Bleacher Banter, the newsletter of the Chicago Cubs bleacher fandom in the mid 1990’s, and the College of Lake County Chronicle. Mr. Wright yearns to write that “over the top” perfect poem that reaches out to everyone.
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RM Yager is a retired nurse/teacher/photographer who loves to write about marginalized and at risk people, she loves to tackle topics about over the top feelings and situations that most people are afraid to confront. She brings family, relationships, and dysfunctional people to the forefront, but also loves to write about babies and little children, especially her grand daughter, nature, healing and whimsy. She has lived on the north shore of Chicago for almost 30 years but is an inner city transplant, who grew up in Lakeview. Her works have appeared in the Winnetka Living as well as within editions of East on Central, Avocet Nature Journal, Highland Park Poetry Muses' Gallery, Rockford Writers Guild, The Good Life Magazine, and The Front Porch Review. Look for her work in an upcoming edition of The Blue Collar Review. She is indebted to her fellow poets who pushed her into finally submitting poetry in 2018.
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