Welcome to our April 2016 Poem-a-thon! We have 16 poets participating from all over the globe. You can find their bios below. Each poet has committed to write one poem a day during the month of April. Support their creative efforts by clicking the “Sponsor A Poet” button below. Please complete the form and be sure to enter the name of the poet you are sponsoring and the dollar amount. Then enter your credit or debit card information and click the “Sponsor” button at the bottom of the form to complete your donation.
POET BIOS | ||
| Please click on the poet’s name to read their submissions. | ||
 | MAUREEN KWIAT MESHENBERG is an author and a prolific poet writing about life’s journey from her heart. Her debut book, Seasons of the Soul: Transitions and Shifts of Life was released in November of 2014. She is also published in 2 anthologies, Journey of the Heart: An Anthology of Spiritual Poetry by Women and Where Journeys Meet: The Voice of Women’s Poetry. Her most recent publication was in the anthology, 30 Poems in 30 Days: Writing Prompts and Poems from Tiferet Journal published August 2015. She current has over 3,500 readers on her Facebook Poetry Page Heart’s Calling. Maureen is currently working on her next book The Distance Reached, dealing with her journey with divorce and breast cancer. She currently hosts writing circles for women locally and at retreats using writing as an inner release. She enjoys spending time with her 3 adult children Alexandra, Dylan and Jonah in Oak Park, Illinois. | |
 | TRACY BROOKS believes in the power of poetry and stories. As an intuitive empath and Shamanic healer, she offers channeled writings and poems to support others, www.facebook.com/soulbeckons. Death has always been a teacher to her and she has communicated with those that have passed on for most of her life. This whispering between worlds is the foundation of her first book, which is being finished now. When not writing, she is busy homeschooling her children, receiving wisdom from her dog, teaching yoga to young people, and offering various spiritual practices to others. www.tracybrookswriter.com | |
 | BRIDGET NUTTING is a literary and visual artist who began creating as a child. She passionately explores innovative styles of expression through words, objects, and experiences, teaching people of all ages to do the same. Her poetry has been published in various journals; her art and calligraphy grace the walls of homes and offices throughout the world. She currently teaches online courses to international students. Bridget calls the Pacific Northwest home. | |
 | CATRIONA KNAPMAN is a Scottish writer and a human rights worker, currently based in Burma. Her writing is connected to her ten years of travel and work across four continents. She has published work in Guernica, The Arab Review and Think Africa Press, among others. Connect with her @CatrionaKnapman or www.luckydiplife.wordpress.com. | |
 | LOUISE MORIARTY is a Traveller, Adventurer of the heart, Poet, Fool, storyteller of the new cosmology. An impossible dreamer! In her travels and experiences she has given herself the joyous job of writing a poem for every person in the world. She recognised that when your heart song is acknowledged, you feel seen for who you are, you have the courage to follow your truths and know you bring it just by being here. Master of Social Ecology, Social worker, Circus trainer and performer, community cultural development worker; Louise delights in weaving pathways for the child within to have full expression. Giving us permission to play into what truly brings our senses alive. Using her bardic form of storytelling to sing the song lines of your soul, this modern day minstrel, makes poetry live through the everyday life of the hero and legend in all of us. www.everydaymiraclesandwonder.com | |
 | HAZEL SAVILLE is from Carmarthen, Wales, in the UK. She has been writing poetry since her early teens. She has worked as a social worker and since 2000 as a hypnotherapist/psychotherapist. Amongst other things, she is a visual artist, a songwriter and plays the Celtic harp. Hazel likes exploring ideas in her work. She particularly enjoys the musicality of poetry. Her poems have been published in a number of UK magazines and anthologies. | |
 | BRUCE W. NIEDT is a southern New Jersey native and recently retired civil servant. His poetry has appeared in Writer’s Digest, The Lyric, Spitball, Chantarelle’s Notebook, US 1 Worksheets, Edison Literary Review, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Schuylkill Valley Journal, and many others. His awards include the ByLine Short Fiction and Poetry Prize and two Pushcart Prize nominations. His latest chapbook is Hits and Sacrifices, published by Finishing Line Press. | |
 | ALEXSONDRA TOMASULO has been writing for a decade on her personal and intimate journeys. Her scope includes grief, depression, forgiveness, transformation and redemption. She loves poetry, short stories and essays. She is also an accomplished ceramic artist. Alexsondra now, after the loss of her beloved husband, has found a new rhythm in the art of play as it relates to each artistic endeavor. She resides on the coast of Maine. | |
 | PALLINE PLUM is a visual artist who has published poems in regional journals, anthologies, and Poetry in Buses in Kalamazoo. Her notable poetry prize was at the Dancing Poetry Festival in San Diego where she won the Grand Prize. Palline earned a BFA in Fine Art from University of Michigan, and an MFA in Sculpture from Queens College, CUNY. Palline was a social worker for many years, earning her MSW from the University of Michigan, and has placed and supervised over 40 high school age foreign exchange students. | |
 | JENNIFER THIBODEAU has been a high school English teacher for over 20 years. She has been published in The Paterson Literary Review, and she is currently working on a collection of short stories. She has revealed the value of Creative Writing to children, prisoners, and other English teachers. She is grateful to all of the people who have encouraged her to be creative. | |
 | LEE WOODMAN has had a distinguished career in the arts and media production and has held senior leadership positions at the Smithsonian Institution. Her radio and film awards include five Cines, two New York International Film Blue Ribbons, and three Gracies from American Women in Radio and Television.In her poetry, she brings her keen eye, unerring ear, and formidable linguistic talents to the world of personal experience and emotion. Alternately tough and tender, she turns her focus from the heritage of an old family cabin to the see-saw relationship of lovers and spouses. Lucidly and unsentimentally, she unearths long-buried trauma; gleefully, she revels in simple pleasures. Her technically stunning, energy-rich, and often humorous poems speak to everyone. | |
 | CHRISTINE DONEGAN SEGALL is a New York native, now living in California. She has attended NYU, taken writing workshops at The New School, worked as a copy editor, and is a mother and grandmother. She is a writer, artist, student of spirit, and loves the musicality and imagery of words, the rhythms of emotion, and believes that the arts and spiritual life are wonderfully intertwined. Her work has been published in Tiferet Journal. | |
 | JHILMIL BRECKENRIDGE is a poet, writer and activist who speaks out about mental health, incarceration and abuse. She has just completed her MA in Creative Writing from the University of Westminster. Her poems often worry about issues of feeling lost in a changing world, the immigrant or foreign experience, love and loss and longing, and nostalgia for times gone by. She is Fiction Editor for a South Asian literary magazine, Open Road Review. She is working on her first novel and when she is not writing, she is chasing clouds and rainbows with her iPhone. | |
 | CAMELLIA STADTS is a lifelong Michigan resident who has always loved all the beauty that Michigan holds. Her work has been published in the anthologies “Journey of the Heart”, and “Where Journeys Meet” and an essay entitled “Angels” in the book “Finding Our Wings: A Collection of Angelic Stories and Poems” – Spiritual Writers Network. Camellia holds a BA in English from Marygrove College in Detroit, and has two grown children and an 8-year old grandson. | |
 | JENNETH GRASER is South African born and has lived in Cape Town for most of her life, but has also lived in British Columbia, Canada when her family immigrated there in the early 80’s. She is married to Karl and they have 3 girls who are being homeschooled. Jenneth has a degree in Library and Information Studies. Together Karl and Jenneth facilitate a contemplative group called Free Flow. Jenneth plays contemplative piano and has a love for traveling, teaching, poetry, books, creativity, meditation and adult coloring-in books. Her book “Catching the Light: a Devotional” is available as an e-book on Amazon.com. This volume combines devotional readings with poetry for contemplation and healing. You may listen to a selection of the audio version of her book, as well as her contemplative music, and catch up with her blog Prayers on the wing, at www.secretplacedevotion.weebly.com. Her poetry has been published at My Utmost Christian Writers. She is also part of a community of writers for the Godspace blog, which is a part of Mustard Seed Associates. | |
 | VIRGINIA SCHULTZ is a poet, meeting planner, taijiquan teacher and runner. Inspired by inner and outer landscapes and the bounty of nature, often in its edible form, her poems appear in “China Impressions,” “The Moon and Other Observations” and “I’m Pregnant, Pleased To Meet You.” Cherishing the company of all who dare to be poetic, she co-founded wordbywordjourneys.org, inspiring over 100 K-12 teachers to incorporate poetry writing into their curriculum. | |
