Poem of the Month 2011 Calendar (Silverton Books)

A launch event for the Poem of the Month 2011 Calendar, edited by Terry Wolverton, featuring readings with Elena Karina Byrne, Julia Cole, Yvonne M. Estrada, Donna Frazier, Eric Howard, Armine Iknadossian, Ron Koertge, Shahe Mankerian, Majid Naficy, Angela Peñaredondo, Lynne Thompson, and AK Toney.

Elena Karina Byrne is Poetry Consultant / Moderator for The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and Literary Programs Director for The Ruskin Art Club. Her books include: The Flammable Bird (Zoo Press /Tupelo Press 2002) and MASQUE (Tupelo Press, 2008).

Julia Cole’s poems have been published in Diner, Rattapallax, 7 Carmine, Washington Square Review, and Women’s Review of Books. She holds an M.F.A. in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Los Angeles.

Kim Dower’s first collection of poems, Air Kissing on Mars, was published by Red Hen Press in October, 2010. She received her B.F.A. in Creative Writing/Poetry from Emerson College.

Yvonne M. Estrada has published in Emerging Urban Poets Workshop Anthology (vols 1-3), …and in fact there was no ceiling fan, San Gabriel Valley Quarterly, Verse Wisconsin and Pulse Magazine. You can see her read her work on the GuerrillaReads.com website (she's #8).

Donna Frazier supports her poetry habit by working as a ghostwriter and editor. Some of her work can be found at www.unf.edu/mudlark. She blogs occasionally at musette.typepad.com.

Eric Howard is a magazine editor who lives in Los Angeles. His poems have appeared in Birmingham Poetry Review, Caveat Lector, Conduit, Gulf Stream Magazine, Hawaii Pacific Review, Old Red Kimono, Plainsong, and The Sun.

Armine Iknadossian has recently been published in Alabama Literary Review, Ararat Quarterly, Common Ground Review, Margie and Weave. She has work forthcoming in Pearl and Rhino.

Ron Koertge is a poet and a novelist for young adults. His most recent book of poems is Indigo (Red Hen Press), and most recent for younger readers is Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs (Candlewick Press).

Poet-playwright Shahé Mankerian co-authored the play Little Armenia, which debuted at Fountain Theatre in 2006. His short story “Parable” placed Second Runner-up and his nonfiction piece “Tracks” was the Finalist at 2008 William Saroyan Society Centennial Prize for Short Fiction and Creative Nonfiction.

Majid Naficy fled Iran in 1983, a year and a half after the execution of his wife, Ezzat, in Tehran. He has published two collections of poetry: Muddy Shoes (Beyond Baroque Books, 1999) and Father and Son (Red Hen Press, 2003).

Angela Peñaredondo is an emerging Los Angeles poet and visual artist who was a recipient of the UCLA Community Access Scholarship. Currently, she is working on a collection of poetry titled Drawback.

Lynne Thompson’s Beg No Pardon, won the 2007 Perugia Press First Book Award and the 2008 Great Lakes Colleges New Writers Award. New work is forthcoming in the Sou’Wester, Ploughshares and Spillway.

A. K. Toney is a poet, writer and performance artist. Toney has performed at such venues as The Getty, LACMA, MOCA, and Downtown Central Library. He is a Literacy Coordinator of Reading Is Poetry.

Terry Wolverton (editor) is the author of eight books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and the editor of fourteen literary compilations. She is the founder of Writers At Work.