Meet Our Poets ~ Profiles J
John Jackson
John Jackson grew up in Arizona, but has lived in Alaska for the last 24 years where he and his wife, Ayla raised their two children. Encouraged by family, and teachers, he began writing poetry as a teen. Writing now as an adult, he is inspired by poets such as Pablo Neruda, Joy Harjo, and Langston Hughes--and by poets on VerseWrights. He has been active online at WritersCafe for two years, but this is his first publication elsewhere. Read.
Denise Janikowski-Krewal
Denise Janikowski-Krewal was a Midwestern poet and writer of short fiction. She was born, raised and lived in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. After many years of writing technical correspondence, her wandering mind turned to storytelling. Her poetry can be found at “the lost beat” where she collaborated with her cousin and fiction writer, Tom Janikowski. Denise’s work has appeared in Annapurna Magazine, Centre for Imaging and Collection Care blog, Cowboy Poetry Press, Red Fez and Tuck Magazine. Her first book, Spotted Overcoat, Poetry on the Lam, gives glimpses into lives and challenges of jazz age, depression era and current era characters. It is available through Lulu.com as well as through other online retailers. Denise passed away some time ago, and her work still appears here as a heartfelt homage. Read.
Reka Jellema
Reka Jellema is a multi-media writer who loves to collaborate with other artists and poets to create new voices. Jellema is currently working with her writing partners on a book of collaboratively written poems. She works in social services, advocating, finding employment opportunities, and providing supports and empowerment for individuals with developmental disabilities and mental illness. Jellema lives with her husband and Newfoundland dog in Holland, near the dunes of Lake Michigan. Her poems and photographs can be found on Twitter at @RekaJellema and on rekajellema.com, her website. Read.
Mike Jewett
Mike Jewett is the editor of Boston Poetry Magazine and writes poetry when inspiration strikes. By day he is a web developer and attends Boston University to expand his skill set. He has an amazing wife and an inspirational five-year-old son who both keep him grounded. He enjoys being outdoors, gardening, reading, baking (his pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are to die for), and good beer. His writing has appeared in journals, newspapers, and online magazines, including, most recently, Lyrical Somerville and Nostrovia! Poetry. Through Boston Poetry Magazine, he will be publishing his first print anthology, has partnered with dVerse Poets Pub for a poetry contest, and will be partnering with Germany's largest poetry journal, Das Gedicht. Read.
Michael Lee Johnson
Michael Lee Johnson lived ten years in Canada during the Vietnam era. Today he is a poet, freelance writer, photographer, and small business owner in Itasca, Illinois. He started writing at 17, during the old typewriter, mail only days, lost interest for a few years, and then with the advent of the Internet has has been publishing online since 2007. Michael has been heavily influenced by poets Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, and Charles Bukowski, among others. He is the author of The Lost American: From Exile to Freedom, several chapbooks of poetry, including From Which Place the Morning Rises, Challenge of Night and Day, and Chicago Poems. He invites readers to visit his website, which has his poetry and a list of poetry sites which he edits. Read.
Carole Johnston
Carole Johnston, a poet and novelist, lives in Lexington, Kentucky where she enjoys driving around Bluegrass Backroads, stopping traffic to write haiku and to photograph crows. Obsessed with the sky, she keeps her camera on the front seat so she can chase the sunset and capture it in photographs and poems. Although she is a Jersey Girl, she loves the Bluegrass landscape. She can do this because she has retired from teaching creative writing in a high school arts program where she “grew” a multitude of poets. Many of her former students are now working on MFA degrees in creative writing as well as teaching and publishing poetry. Carole is now free to pursue her obsession with Japanese short form poetry. She has published poems and stories in a variety of print and online journals including Frog Pond, Ribbons, Atlas Poetica, Moon Bathing, Zen Spaces, Living Haiku Anthology, and Inner Art Journal. She was a finalist for the Museum of Haiku Literature Award and will soon be published in Blithe Spirit. She can be found @morganbag on Twitter. Read.
Dick Jones
Dick Jones was Initially wooed by the First World War poets and then seduced by the Beats, and he has been exploring the vast territories in between since the age of 15. Work has been published in a number of magazines, print and online, including Orbis, The Interpreter’s House, Poetry Ireland Review, Qarrtsiluni, Westwords, Mipoesias, Three Candles, Other Poetry, Rattlesnake and Ouroboros Review. In 2010 Dick received a Pushcart nomination for his poem "Sea Of Stars" and his first collection, Ancient Lights, was published by Phoenicia Publishing in 2012. A translation of Blaise Cendrars’ iconoclastic epic poem "La Prose du Transsibérien…," illustrated by Natalie D’Arbeloff, is due for publication by The Old Stile Press in 2014. Dick presently lives near London with his wife and children. Read.