I am a poet who, after decades away from my hometown of Canton, Ohio has moved back. I live in the house I was raised in, across from a lake, on the edge of a woods that I walked in as a child and still walk nearly every day. Since I was 10 years old, I have written diaries, stories, and poems, which I began publishing at age 22. In the interim, I studied Spanish and did some translating, taught high school, and then taught in universities for many decades. My 18 years of teaching in prison affected me a lot, and recently, I have been writing and speaking more about our criminal justice system.
With my students, I launched a study of contemporary writing on the internet, especially how poetry and poets use and are used by the internet, and I continue to use that study to feature writers online. I also continue to give workshops and readings in prisons, schools, universities, libraries, and in whatever highway, byway or venue people are interested in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Contact me if you are interested in those activities.
