The Jewish Poets Collective

Due to time constraints, I will not be providing full introductions to the talented poets that will be reading on Sunday, instead I’m including information on each poet so those attending can learn more about them.
Also, there is still time to register for the reading, click here:

Yehoshua November is the author of God’s Optimism (a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize), Two Worlds Exist (a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and Paterson Poetry Prize), and The Concealment of Endless Light. His work has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, The Sun, Tikkun, Virginia Quarterly Review, and on National Public Radio and On Being’s Poetry Unbound podcast program. He teaches writing at Rutgers and Touro University. Learn more about Yehoshua at https://www.yehoshuanovember.com

VERONICA SCHORR
Veronica Schorr is author of the chapbook Conscious Blue (Finishing Line Press, 2021). Her writing appears in Bellingham Review, Honey Literary, La Piccioletta Barca, and elsewhere. Most recently, she was runner-up for the 49^th Parallel Award for Poetry. Veronica is Assistant Poetry Editor at Eco Theo Review. Visit her online at veronicaschorr.com.

Richard’s many books for children, teens and adults have been listed among the Ten Best of the Year by The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and The New Yorker; and among the best Dozen of the Decade by Amazon.com. He has received a National Jewish Book Award and two Sydney Taylor Gold Medals (and two Silver) from the Association of Jewish Libraries.

Other credits include two Junior Library Guild Gold Medals, a National Parenting Publication Gold Medal, an International Reading Association Teacher’s Choice Award, a National Network of Teachers of the Year Social Justice Award, two Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowships, and two Massachusetts Book Award Honors. Michelson’s work was chosen to “highlight the literary culture and history of Massachusetts” at the 2018 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington DC. In 2019 he became the sixth recipient of the Samuel Minot Jones Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement.

Michelson’s most recent poetry collection, Sleeping as Fast as I Can was one of 12 finalists for the Forward Indies Award (books published by independent presses). His previous collection, More Money than God, (University of Pittsburgh Press) was a finalist for the Paterson Prize.

Michelson hosts Northampton Poetry Radio, and served two terms as Poet Laureate of Northampton, MA.

Rhonda Rosenheck is a poet, editor, and retired Jewish school leader living in New York’s Capital Region. She edited Thriving: An Anthology, for which she won a NYSCA individual artists grant through Saratoga Arts. She has taught writing workshops in Waterford, Claverack, and Lake George, NY. Her poetry collection, The Five Books of Limericks: A chapter-by-chapter re-reading of the Torah, and a chapbook titled Looking were traditionally published, as was her cartoon book, Yiddische Yoga: OYsanas for Every Generation. Rhonda’s poems have appeared in Heirlock Magazine, Kings River Life Magazine’s Halloween newsletter, The Paragon Press, and in A Book of Sonnets. Her poem MakerSpace was theatrically performed at the Glimmer Globe Theater, Cooperstown, NY.
You can learn more about Rhonda at https://www.rhondarosenheck.com

Talya Jankovits is an award-winning writer. Her essays, fiction, and poetry have been published in various magazines. Her story Undone, in Lunch Ticket was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and her short story, Golem Mother of the Catskills received an Honorable Mention in the 2024 Moment Magazine’s Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest as well as in the 2024 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest. Her poem, My Father Is A Psychologistpublished in BigCityLit, was nominated for both a Pushcart prize and The Best of the Net. Her micro piece Bus Stop in Morning won one of Beyond Words Magazine’s 250-word challenges. Her Poem, Guf was the recipient of the Editor’s Choice Award in Arkana Magazine and nominated for the Best of Net. Her poem, A Woman of Valor, was featured in the 2019/2020 Eshet Hayil exhibit at Hebrew Union College Los Angeles. Her collection of poems, girl woman wife mother, (Kelsay Books, 2024) received First Place in Contemporary Poetry in the 2024 Bookfest Awards. She holds her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and resides in Chicago with her husband and four daughters. https://talyajankovits.com

Tzivia Gover is an award-winning author of seven books including Dreaming on the Page: Tap into Your Midnight Mind to Supercharge Your Writing. Her poetry has been published in dozens of journals and anthologies including The Mom Egg Review, The Naugatuck River Review, Pensive, The Other Journal, Ritualwell and Lilith Magazine, among others. She shares her poems and translations about the first Hebrew Matriarch, Sarah at The Life of H: Sarah, Reimagined. Her nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Creative Nonfiction, and more. Tzivia earned her MFA in writing from Columbia University and she lives in western Massachusetts.
Her books include Dreaming On The Page, an IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award™ Gold Winner, and Foreword Indies Finalist
You can. learn more about Tzivia at https://thirdhousemoon.com

Barbara Ungar is the author of six poetry collections: After Naming the Animals (The Word Works, 2024); Save Our Ship (Ashland Poetry P, 2019); Immortal Medusa (The Word Works, 2015); Charlotte Brontë, You Ruined My Life (The Word Works, 2011); The Origin of the Milky Way, (Gival P, 2007); and Thrift (Word Tech, 2005). Professor emerita from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, she holds degrees from Stanford (BA), City College, CUNY (MA), and The Graduate Center, CUNY (PhD). Her poems have appeared in Scientific American, Rattle, Salmagundi, Southern Indiana Review, Pedestal, Crazyhorse, and many other journals and anthologies. Her honors include the Snyder Prize from Ashland Poetry Press, the Gival Poetry Prize, a silver IPPY (Independent Publishers award), a Hoffer award, Distinguished Favorite at the Independent Press Awards, and twice being named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of the year. She has read widely, including at The Dodge Poetry Festival, The Poetry Society of America, and Poets House. Her work has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Bulgarian. The author of Haiku in English and three chapbooks, she traveled around the world for several years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs, New York. https://barbaraungar.net

Baruch November’s most recent book of poems was entitled Bar Mitzvah Dreams. His first collection of poems, Dry Nectars of Plenty, co-won BigCityLit’s chapbook contest in 2003. Baruch’s works have been featured in Paterson Literary Review, Tiferet Journal, Lumina, NewMyths.com, and The Forward. His poem “After Esav” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is host and organizer of the Jewish Poetry Reading Series. November has taught courses in Shakespeare, poetry, fiction, and writing at Touro University in Manhattan. He has lived in many cities across the United States but currently resides in Washington Heights, New York. 

Susan is a journalist and poet in Berkeley, California. She’s been a newspaper reporter, a contributing writer to the Washington Post Magazine, and a faculty member of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California. In 2013, she earned an MFA in poetry, her first love. Susan’s poetry has been published in a number of literary journals
Her third full-length book of poems, Democracy of Fire, was released from Broadstone Books on September 30, 2022 and was a finalist for the Washington Prize, Wilder Prize, and Richard Snyder Prize. Learn more about Susan at https://www.susancohen-writer.com/index.htm

Susan Comninos is a writer and teacher in New York. Her poetry has appeared in Harvard Review Online, Rattle, The Common, Prairie Schooner and North American Review, among others. She has taught undergraduates at Siena College, The College of St. Rose, and most recently, SUNY Albany, as well as adults in the local community. A graduate of Cornell Univ., holding an MFA in creative writing from The Univ. of Michigan, she works as a freelance writer when she’s not in the classroom. 
Her book reviews, author profiles and literary trend stories have appeared in The Atlantic Online, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and more. She lives near Albany.​ Learn more about Susan at her website https://sandracarranza1278.wixsite.com/susancomninos