Meet Mitch Levenberg

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to the book Pain and Memory (currently discounted on Amazon). Mitch Levenberg, a writer of existentially absurd stories with a voice that is ironically humorous, is one of those readers. Come to the reading and meet Mitch – start by reading about him here. Scroll down for blog/bios. on the other readers (Lynne Shapiro, Ruth Sabath Rosenthal, Anique Taylor, and Anne Whitehouse).

Writer, essayist, and teacher Mitch Levenberg has published essays and short fiction in such journals as The Common Review, Fiction, The New Delta Review, Fine Madness, The Saint Ann’s Review, Confluence, The Assisi Journal, and others. His collection of stories, Principles of Uncertainty and Other Constants was published in March 2006. He has won two Honorable Mention Awards (2004, 2009) for his essays on his father’s experiences in the Philippines during the Second World War. One of these essays, “Butterflies and Lepers,” was published in the anthology Pain and Memory (2009). He is currently working on a book of poetry entitled, Transformational Love.

Mitch Levenberg has read many of his stories on WNYE-91.5 in New York City and has performed readings at many venues around New York City including the 63rd Street Y, KGB, Hudson View Gardens, Jimmy’s 43, The Brooklyn Heights Public Library, the N.Y.U. Torch Club and others.

The critic Alfred Kazin has said of Mitch Levenberg that he “has the sharp, merciless eye for the hazards that can intervene in the seemingly most innocuous situation. He is utterly fearless in describing the human situation as it is.”

Mitch teaches creative writing and literature at St. Francis College and New York University and lives in Brooklyn with his wife, daughter, and four dogs.

Meet Lynne Shapiro

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to the book Pain and Memory (currently discounted on Amazon). Lynne Shapiro has but one poem, “Souvenir,” in the anthology, but this tiny gem of a story epitomizes best what the book seeks to explore – the complex nexus between momentary, physical experience and the long stretch of human recall. Come to the reading and meet Lynne – start by reading the history of her writing life here, in her own words. Scroll down for blog/bios. on some other readers (Anique Taylor, Anne Whitehouse, and Ruth Sabath Rosenthal); there is one more blog/bio. yet to come in the next few days.

Poet and essayist Lynne Shapiro has had work published in Apparatus Magazine, BluePrintReview, Centrifugal Eye, FragLit: An Online Magazine of Fragmentary Writing, Hiss Quarterly, The Mom Egg, Mslexia, Ozone Park, Qarrtsiluni, Quay, Soundzine, Switchback, Terrain.org, Trespass, Umbrella, and included in the following anthologies: Decomposition: Fungi-inspired Poems (Lost Horse Press), Eating Her Wedding Dress, A Collection of Clothing Poems, (Ragged Sky Press), and Mourning Sickness – Stories and Poems About Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Loss, (Omni Arts Press). This year Lynne was a featured poet in East-West Magazine of Bicoastal Verse and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

If I didn’t have my family, I don’t think I would write. They give me love and security, keep me from other pre-occupations. Not so long ago, I was driven to the brink of madness by the handsome, smiling men you see in the photo. At the same time, I felt my world and my position in it had shriveled. I told myself to “get a life,” walked down to a local writing group and, after decades of promising myself I would one day write, I did just that. I started with children’s books. Ever practical, I wanted my writing to be useful - but then the poetry began to flow. After years of teaching and talking about poetry and art, I finally allowed myself to become an artist.

Poetry has enabled me to connect and collect all of myself in one place, I’ve written poems about where I’ve lived (Ozone Park, Queens; Culver City, California; Waltham, Massachusetts; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Hoboken, New Jersey), where I’ve worked (as a teacher, museum educator, editor) and about what I’ve studied (passiflora, shade gardening, ornithology, 20th Century art, Dada and Surrealist literature, cinema, photography).

In a way, when I write, I curate. For me, each poem is a tiny exhibition.

Meet Ruth Sabath Rosenthal

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to the book Pain and Memory (currently discounted 28% on Amazon). Ruth Sabath Rosenthal, a poet of astonishing breadth and depth who writes on many subjects (and at times, not without humor), is one of those contributors. Come to the reading and meet Ruth – start by reading about her here. Scroll down for blog/bios. on some other readers (Anique Taylor and Anne Whitehouse), and there are a few more blog/bios. coming in the next week or so.

Ruth Sabath Rosenthal is a New York poet, residing in Manhattan and Long Beach, Long Island with her husband Alfred and their dog Sweetie-Pie. Ruth began writing poetry in her golden years, in 2000, after becoming disinterested in occasional painting. It’s then she got her first computer and signed up for her very first poetry class. She quickly became hooked on poetry, and continued taking classes and workshops in New York City, mostly at the 92nd Street Y, famous for their fine courses and roster of renowned instructors. Ruth also studied privately with some of her teachers, including Rahel Wetzsteon and Sarah Hannah, both of whom have since passed; their poetry, though, lives on, inspiring Ruth’s work.

That body of work includes dozens and dozens of poems published in numerous poetry journals and anthologies throughout the U.S., and internationally, including the U.K., India, Israel and Canada. Ruth gives readings locally and her first Chapbook, titled Facing Home, published by Finishing Line Press is due this summer; her first full-length book is in the works. Attesting to her talent and very wide appeal, here are poetry journals and anthologies in which Ruth’s poems have appeared:

Journals: Adagio; Aurorean; Birmingham Review; Breadcrumb Scabs; California; Quarterly’s Poetry Letter & Literary Review; Canopic Jar; Chronogram Magazine; Connecticut Review; Creations Magazine; Cyclamens & Swords (Israel); Ibbetson Street; Jabberwock; Juke Jar; Lilith; Magnapoets; Message in a Bottle (U.K.); MungBeing; Mobius-The Poetry Magazine; The Long Island Quarterly-Poetry Bay; Pacific Review; Poetica; Poetry Depth Quarterly; Quill & Parchment; Sarasvati (U.K.); Taj Mahal Review (India); Vallum (Canada).

Anthologies: Empty Shoes (Popcorn Press); Harvest of the New Millennium (Cyberwit.net); Home (Eden Waters Press); The Long Island Sound: 2008, 2009 (North Sea Poetry Scene Press); Mizmor L'David Anthology: Volume I - Holocaust (Poetica Press); Pain and Memory (Editions Bibliotekos); primal sanities! -- a Tribute to Walt Whitman (Allbooks Books); Songs of Seasoned Women (Quadrasoul, Inc.); The Book of Ten (Zebra Publishing) (U.K.); Voices Israel: 2007, 2008, 2009.

Ruth’s poem “on yet another birthday,” was nominated for a Pushcart prize in October 2006.

For more on Ruth, visit websites: Here, Here, or Here (last includes video).

Meet Anique Taylor

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to Pain and Memory (currently discounted 28% on Amazon). Anique Taylor, a gifted visual artist and multi-faceted writer, is one of those contributors. Come to the reading and meet Anique – read about her here, in her own words.

Artist, poet, clown, life coach, Anique Taylor lives in her sweet mountain hamlet (with her 5lb black rescue poodle) where she works full time making art and writing poetry, creative memoir, and personal essays.

Anique Taylor ran away to Paris where she studied literature (Sorbonne, Diplome); afterward she graduated high school (Greenwich), studied literature (Antioch College), and then taught creative writing to Jr. High Students on a co-op job, Angeles Crest Mountains.

Anique studied art – Silvermine College (AFA) Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, (BFA Highest Honors), and Pratt Graduate School (MFA ). Anique also studied at St. Mark’s Poetry Project with Alice Notely, Bernadette Mayer, and Susie Timmons; subsequently she gave featured readings at St. Mark’s Poetry Project, Dixon Place, Speakeasy, ABC No Rio, Cedar Tavern, and performed regularly with Eve Packer’s What Happens Next, in group readings at St. Mark’s Poetry Project, Tompkin’s Square Arts Festival, New Romantics, Charas, Knitting Factory, Bergen County Literary Salon, Ridgewood Library, and Phoenicia Phirst Phriday.

With Etan Ben-Ami Anique edited the much acclaimed (& short lived) poetry magazine, The Cheap Review of Poetry, publishing several wonderful poets, such as Alice Notley, Bill Kushner, Elinor Nauen, Sheila Alson, Norman MacAfee, Peter Bushyeager, Tom Savage, and Bernadette Mayer.

Anique created a children’s show, performing as Pirouette-the-Clown in & around NYC, Bergen County. Her chapbook Poems is published by Unimproved Editions Press. Additionally, her poems have been published in The World, Sing O Heavenly Muse, Cheap Review, Big Fish, Southern Review, Cover Magazine, Pome, What Happens Next, and The National Poetry Magazine of the Lower East Side.

As well as literary writing, Anqiue has many co-authored books such as the Computer Joke Book, (Hayden), What to Do When You’re Bored, (Simon & Schuster), Snakes!, Bears! (EMC), How Many Nerds Does It Take to Screw in a Light Bulb?, Book of Silly Quizzes, (Scholastic), Nightmare Nina (Bowmar/Noble), and the filmstrips, Arachne & Athena, Atalanta, Prometheus & Pandora, (January Productions).

Anique also co-authored ABZ’s of Sex & Love (HBO), Bless Me Father for I Have Sinned, produced by Playwright’s Horizons, Phoenix Theatre, Williamstown Playhouse. She has also performed with the comedy group Raw Guts & American Know How.

In her sweet mountain hamlet, Anique continues to write & make art.

Meet Anne Whitehouse

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to Pain and Memory (currently discounted on Amazon). Anne Whitehouse, a gifted poet and novelist, is one of those contributors. Come to the reading and meet Anne - read about her here, in her own words. Over the course of approximately the next two weeks, we will roll out short blog-bios. of our other four remarkable writers who will be reading at St. Francis College.

Poet, fiction writer, journalist, and critic Anne Whitehouse’s books include poetry collections The Surveyor’s Hand, Blessings and Curses, Bear in Mind (forthcoming) and Fall Love (novel). Her second novel, Rosalind’s Ring, is set in her native Birmingham. Visit Anne's homepage: http://www.annewhitehouse.com/

EARLY LITERARY INFLUENCES
My grandmothers were early literary influences. My mother’s mother Dora Landau Roth was a strong personality and natural storyteller who mesmerized my sisters and me with her tales about her cat and dog when she was growing up. Princie and L.C. (for Landau’s cat) were delightfully mischievous creatures invariably up to no good, who cleverly outsmarted their owners to achieve their ends. How we loved Grandma’s stories! She was a dramatic, thrilling narrator; while I have forgotten many of the details, I vividly remember the effective use of repetition and skillful pacing that combined expectation and surprise.

My father’s mother Rachel Spivak Cherner was the opposite—a shy immigrant who never learned how to speak English without an accent. Yet, when I was not more than three years old, she and I would escape the rest of the family, and she would read aloud the fairy tales I selected for her. As soon as I could read, she encouraged my desire to learn with weekly gifts of The Books of Knowledge, a series for children that I adored, which she bought at the grocery store.

My father’s mother died when I was only nine, leaving the memory of her love as a comfort. As my interest in writing developed, my other grandmother put herself at my service. An expert typist, she typed my class play in the sixth grade. When I began to compose poetry, she was my first family reader. That she accepted this role so willingly boosted my confidence and helped to inspire me. She died when I was 25 years old and engaged to be married. Folded in her wallet was a copy of the poem I had written about her brother, Reply to My Uncle Joseph, that she carried with her everywhere.