Quintessential Poetry: Online Radio, YouTube and Zoom

Stephen C. Pollock is the author of the poetry collection Exits, published by Windtree Press. The book nods to the literary traditions of years past while simultaneously speaking to the present moment. It responds to contemporary anxieties surrounding death and the universal search for meaning in life’s transience. Influenced by Dr. Seuss, Pollock began writing rhymed poems at age nine. In high school, he maintained a poetry journal as part of his sophomore English curriculum, and at Amherst College, he took four rigorous poetry courses. During his final semester at Amherst, in an act of love masquerading as mania, he stopped attending classes, isolated himself from friends, ate and slept reluctantly, and spent five straight weeks writing a metaphysical poem on the theme of subjective vs. objective reality. His professional career was a play in two acts. Trained as a physician, Pollock was recruited to Duke University as Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology in 1987. His clinical practice consisted of evaluating and caring for patients with complex ocular manifestations of neurological diseases. He also trained ophthalmology residents and fellows, and he published a number of clinical and research papers in the medical literature. Prior to leaving academic medicine, he achieved a rank of Associate Professor with tenure.

After seventeen years, Pollock left Duke to become chief executive of CEC (cecvision.com), a nationwide company that provides vision benefits to individuals and their family members. He retired after the company was sold in 2019. Pollock has occasionally dabbled in engineering and technology as well. He wrote U.S. Patent 4,477,158, Lens System for Variable Refraction, and he also designed an instrument that’s used to biopsy inaccessible tumors of the orbit and brain. For more information, please visit, https://exitspoetry.net/

About the Author:

Brian Zaffino holds a BA in Creative Writing from New York University. He grew up around New England, primarily in Connecticut and New Hampshire, and now resides in New York. Ghosts of Mr. Baker is his debut poetry collection.

Synopsis: 

A book of nostalgia, tragedy, and universal truths. In his debut collection, Brian Zaffino takes readers on a journey through time and space, exploring the intricate connections between past, present, and future.

Through a combination of poetry and prose, Ghosts of Mr. Baker delves into the complexities of individual and interpersonal relationships, as well as our relationship with the natural world. Zaffino's writing is raw and emotional, capturing the essence of the human experience with a deft touch.

At its core, Ghosts of Mr. Baker is a testament to the power of self-reflection and personal growth. Zaffino confronts the challenges of growing up head-on, offering readers a glimpse into the messy, beautiful, and ultimately rewarding journey of understanding oneself. Through his words, Zaffino invites us to embrace the shared experience of deeper understanding, and to find hope and beauty in the face of adversity.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ghosts-of-mr-baker-brian-zaffino/1143464555

James L. Rencher Jr. AKA Sir Lawrence

Sir Lawrence started writing in the early 2000s. He has also appeared and featured throughout the city of Houston while being a part of “Snow Industries” created by Black Snow the Poet. Then life got in the way, which stalled Sir Lawrence’s pen. In 2017 relocated back to Atlanta where he started back writing inspired after participating in platforms like Blog talk radio. Shortly thereafter he published his first book “When We Meet - Poems of Love “ which is a book of Love Poems.The following year Sir Lawrence published his second book “SIR ” which is a book of cultural awareness, consciousness and some sensuality for balance.

Sir Lawrence has performed live here in Atlanta at the Apache XLR  - Whiskey Wine and Words and The Soul Café; also a 3-city tour with the Gray Beard poets starting in Locust Grove, GA. -  Memphis, TN. – Greenville, SC. My most recent appearance was at The Coffee Underground in Greenville, SC. Sir Lawrence is also a Culinary Artist shipping his Signature Pound cake coast to coast.

https://instagram.com/sir_lawrence_poet

https://facebook.com/rencherjames

Jennifer M. Garnatz was born in Lucea on the Caribbean Island of Jamaica in 1953. From the age of 4, she was raised in Kingston by her extremely strict single father. Her mother migrated to the UK. Due to his busy work schedule, he immediately placed her in a boarding school, later at diverse private homes. She was also boarded with the nuns at the Convent of Mercy Alpha Academy High School. Seeking independence after graduating, she pursued a secretarial course then worked as a legal assistant.

Creative writing and composing songs have been her passion since early childhood, providing her soul with solace. Excepting her daily communication with God, growing up she had no one to confide in. The first 20 years of her life had its share of traumas, among them, six weeks before her 20th birthday seeing her father’s body lying in a pool of blood with a bullet hole in his head minutes after he was murdered by criminals. Suddenly, she was on her own. Independence came in an undesired manner.

https://www.jennifergarnatz.com

Poet, film scientist, translator, author of Czech expression (*27.05.1967, Bucharest). Editor/Correspondent: Levure Littéraire (France – USA - Germany), Literomania, FITRALIT, Actualitatea Literară (Romania), Timpul (Moldavia), A Too Powerful Word (Serbia), Alephi (India), Quest (Montenegro), producer & moderator of cultural events in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Romania. Producer & host of the video literary programs International Correspondences and Literary Workshops for Literomania Literary Magazine in Romania (since august 2022), Associate Producer and co-host: Poets of the East Literary Radio/Video Show, produced by Rick Spisak initially for PNN Radio, than for Canary in a Coal Mine TV Society. Awards: The Fertile Brains Literary Festival Award, 2023 (India), The Main Marhoul Award for Poetry for 2021 (Czech Republic), The Panorama Literary Festival Award for 2021 (India), The Morava Banks Literart Festival Award for 2019 (Czech Republic/Slovakia).

Books: Landscapes, Flights and Dictations, Tin quotes, inferiority complexes and human rights (2014/2015, Petr Štengl Editions, Prague), Plíz sujčov jor mobajl foun senťu / Pliiz suiciof ior mobail faun senchiu (Next Page Editions, Bucharest, 2020, bilingual Czech-Romanian anthology). Samples from his scientific work (film and literary critic and history): Narrator, Author & God (Charles University Press, Prague, Czech Republic, 2009), Parts of his work were translated and published in the USA, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Israel, Serbia, Romania, Spain, India, Egipt, Syria, Korea, Albania. He is also present in prestigious anthologies in the USA, UK, Spain, South-Africa, India, Indonesia, Romania, Moldavia. Translator: Czech/Slovak < -- > Romanian; Polish, Bulgarian -> Romanian English, French < -- > Romanian Czech < -- > English, French.

Dr. Suneet Madan personifies creative diversity. Connecting life dots with insatiable curiosity is how she defines herself and the same is reflected in her creations. A seasoned user experience professional, Suneet has Doctorate degree from CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Masters in Design (Visual Communication) from IIT Bombay, and Masters in Mass Communication from Kurukshetra University.

Having lived across the length and breadth of India, her views and visualizations on societal and culturally relevant aspects find a broader perspective. Her art works and creative writing, while questioning the norms of the world, celebrate the essence of life, using myriad media in intriguing and unusual ways. While conveying hard- hitting deeper meanings, her works tantalize the audience on different sensory levels.  

Dr. Madan's poems and short stories have been widely anthologized. Her poems have also been published in the Indian Poetry Review and on Asian Literary Society’s blog. Suneet has been an artistic prodigy, and recipient of a large number of awards on international levels, in creative expressions through painting and writing. The most prominent and recent awards have been the Master of Creative Impulse - International Achievement Award in World Literature and Creative Arts during the World Poetry Conference-II, and recognition certificate from the International Watercolor Society as the top two winners of the IWS theme Song Contest used verses from her poem, that was selected in the IWS Poetry Contest, in their lyrics.

Book

https://www.amazon.com/Poinsettia-Suneet-Madan/dp/9357044175/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1KH14C2896GB4&keywords=suneet+madan&qid=1691100009&s=books&sprefix=suneet+madan%2Cstripbooks%2C103&sr=1-1

William Washington is a Native of Spanish Harlem New York City. He's an Established Spoken Storyteller/Author/Motivational Speaker & Activist. He's Performed Throughout The United States. His Goal in Life is To Heal The Brokenhearted with His Words.

Books

https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Book-Love-Given-Love-Taken/dp/B09X5RT8KF/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1691097670&refinements=p_27%3Awilliam+james+washington+sr.&s=books&sr=1-2

https://www.amazon.com/Nigger-Chronicles-William-Washington-ebook/dp/B00C9EWPSA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=P74DMU0BT0V3&keywords=william+james+Washington+the+nigger+chronicles&qid=1691097758&s=books&sprefix=william+james+washington+the+nigger+chronicles%2Cstripbooks%2C87&sr=1-1

Since 1970, John Yamrus has published 35 books (29 volumes of poetry, 2 rather awful novels, 3 "memoirs" and a children's book). He has also had more than 3,000 poems published in magazines and anthologies and has recently had a second book of poetry published in Europe, translated by Fadil Bajraj, who is best known for his books of translations of Ezra Pound, Ginsberg, Bukowski, John Fante and many more.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRCC2LTW/ref=sr_1_18?crid=1FGKZI6WL26W8&keywords=john+yamrus&qid=1672409645&sprefix=john+yamrus%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-18

Richard W. Spisak jr.

He began his work as a professional artist in the studio of Mel Tanner of Lumonics, studying performance Light art. Then Richard worked with the Lumist Kenvin Lyman of Dazzleland Studios, who had earned the first Doctorate of Lumia granted by the Sorbonne.

Then Richard earned a Second Class Radio Engineering License and studied Digital Electronics. He's performed as a LIGHT ARTIST in Planetariums and toured as a LASER ARTIST in the Americas.

Richard has been a Writer/Producer/Director in Live theatre, TV, RADIO, and the WEB. His political essays and ANTI-WAR essays have been published in volumes for three decades. He has published two short story collections the first, "Two Small Windows, in a Pair of Mirror Doors", a collection of stories about Aliens, Ashrams, and Gurus, and his second collection, including both fiction and non-fiction, is entitled “Between the Silences". It has been lauded from Asia to the Americas. His new poetry collection is scheduled to be published this summer, is entitled “STONE POETRY,” and will be widely distributed.

In 2022 Richard published the poetry he has been performing for the last decade in a volume entitled "7370 Allen Drive". Since 2022 Richard has been producing an International Literary webcast entitled “POETS of the East”. It has just wrapped up its fifth season, "Poets of the East," featuring poets from Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Now living in the mountains of Tennessee

The QLPOR podcast welcomes John Guzlowski and Michael Lee Johnson as esteemed guests. John Guzlowski brings a profound depth to his work, drawing inspiration from his family's history during World War II. His poems resonate with powerful reflections on war, survival, and the resilience of the human spirit. Michael Lee Johnson, a prolific writer and talented poet, has mesmerized audiences with his evocative verses that delve deep into the human experience, touching upon themes of love, loss, and introspection. His words have a unique ability to capture raw emotions and transport listeners to vivid landscapes of imagination. Both guests have an undeniable gift for crafting eloquent and thought-provoking poetry, and we eagerly anticipate the enriching conversation that will unfold as we explore the stories behind their literary works.