Philadelphia Poets 2012 Book Release

Saturday, March 31, 2012, from 2:00 till 5:00 p.m.

Philadelphia Poets Presents its Center City Book Launch for the 2012, Volume 18 Issue Poets reading are: Lisa Alexander Baron, Mel Brake, M. Ana Diaz, Joseph Dorazio, Maria Fama, Ray Greenblatt, Lisa Grunberger, David Kozinski, Emiliano Martin, Ann E. Michael, Fereshteh Sholevar, Al Tacconelli, Bill Van Buskirk – Open Mic to follow featured poets. Meet our Cover Artist Barbara Barasch Rosin

Lisa Alexander Baron is the author of Sting and Tell, a book of tanka (Black Cat press, 2011) and Reading the Alphabet of Trees, poetry (Finishing Line, 2007). Her poems have appeared in Paterson Literary Review, Potomac Review, and many others. A retired lawyer and English teacher, she is currently an MFA student.

Mel Brake is the Founder and Director of MPW, a non-profit organization, focusing on using the arts to reach children in the tri-state area. His first chapbook, ‘Obama Poetry Project’, is available at MelBrakEpress.blogspot.com.

M. Ana Diaz was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has taught comparative literature, literary theory and other subjects in American universities. She has published two books on Medieval Literature and more than thirty essays on Medieval and contemporary literature. Her poetry book, Long Island Notebook (2009), was a semifinalist in the St. Lawrence Press 2008 competition. She lives in New York City.

Joseph Dorazio is a prize-winning poet whose poetry has appeared in numerous print and online poetry magazines, including The Spoon River Poetry Review, Clarion Journal, The Maynard, Sleet Magazine, Poiesis, Nerve Cowboy, and Turks Head Review. His poetry chapbook, Remains to Be Seen, was a finalist in Bright Hill Press’ 2010 Poetry Chapbook Competition.

Maria Famà is the author of four books of poetry and the producer of poetry videos. Her poems, short stories, and essays have appeared in numerous publications and have been anthologized. Her latest book is Looking for Cover (Bordighera Press).

Ray Greenblatt has been a reviewer for the Drexel Online Journal and the Schuylkill Valley Journal. He judged at the Philadelphia Writers Conference and spoke at the John Steinbeck Festival in Salinas, California. He was a winner of the Mad Poets Annual Contest and received the Anthony Byrne Award for Poetry. His most recent book is Leavings of the Evening (Foothills Press.

Lisa Grunberger teaches English at Temple University. Her poetry has been published in The Paterson Literary Review and other journals. AYoga instructor, her book, Yiddish Yoga: Ruthy’s Adventures in Love, Loss and the Lotus Pose was published in 2009.

David P. Kozinski won the 7th Annual Dogfish Head Poetry Prize for his chapbook, Loopholes (Broadkill Press). More than 80 of his poems have been published in print and online. His poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize by the Schuylkill Valley Journal and Mad Poets Review.

Emiliano Martin, born in Spain, is the founder and past director of the Philadelphia Poetry Forum and past president of Latin American Guild for the Arts. His latest bilingual collection, 511 Aphorisms of My Humor, was published in 2010.

Ann E. Michael is Writing Coordinator at DeSales University in Pennsylvania. Many of her essays and poems have been published in anthologies, journals, and online sites. Among the publications where her poetry has appeared are Atlanta Review, Red Lights, and Poemeleon. Her fourth poetry chapbook is The Capable Heart.

Fereshteh Sholevar was born and raised in Tehran. She has published five books of poetry. She writes in Farsi, French and German as well as English. Her novel, A Persian Tale, will soon be published.

Al Tacconelli’s poetry has been widely published and he has given presentations throughout the area. Artist as well as poet, his paintings are often exhibited and also grace the covers of literary journals. . Bill Van Buskirk, whose poetry has been published in many publications, won the Mad Poets’ Joie de Vivre Poetry Contest for his book, This Wild Joy that Thrills Outside the Law. Bill grew up in Manayunk and now lives in Allentown, PA, with his wife-poet Lisa Alexander Baron and children, Elizabeth and Sam. He teaches at La Salle University.

PHILADELPHIA POETS 2012, Volume 18, contains the work of 59 poets, including those who will be reading at the Book Launch. This issue contains a Tribute to Diana Festa, a poet who was born in Italy in 1930 and died in New York in 2011 Four of her colleagues M. Ana Diz, Ann Settel, Annette Hollander, and Maria Lisella–have contributed their work to this section. This issue also contains four poems by Lou McKee (1961-2011), who sent them to the editor about six months before he died. These are new poems and have not been published elsewhere. The cover art is by Barbara Barasch Rosin. The poets in this issue are from many sections of the U.S.A. and Canada, as well as Mariacristina Natalia Bertoli, from Switzerland. Four chapbook reviews complete this number. Over all, its 184 pages are a tribute to poetry and those who love it enough to write it.