As eclectic as the city itself, The New York Quarterly Reading Series presents a variety of poetic voices from all walks of life– regardless of genre and school of thought–and geographically from across the country. Diverse and unique, the one thing these voices all have in common is that they have appeared in the pages of the New York Quarterly poetry magazine, so coming to a reading is just as exciting, unexpected, and open as turning a page in the magazine. This special reading extravaganza for National Poetry Month will feature Michael Montlack, Shelley Stenhouse, Matthew Yeager, Jenna Le, and Andrea Lockett (Andrea will be reading works by Muriel Rukeyser).
Michael Montlack, in addition to being the editor of the non-fiction anthology My Diva: 65 Gay Men on the Women Who Inspire Them (University of Wisconsin Press, 2009), which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, Michael Montlack is the author of three poetry chapbooks: Cover Charge (Winner of the 2007 Gertrude Chapbook Competition); Girls, Girls, Girls (Pudding House, 2008); and The Slip (Poets Wear Prada, 2009). His work has appeared in The New York Quarterly, Cimarron Review, Court Green, Swink, 5 AM, Columbia Poetry Review, The Ledge, Poet Lore, Gay and Lesbian Review, Bloom, MiPOesias, and other journals. He has been awarded residencies at Soul Mountain Retreat (CT), Ucross (WY), Lambda Literary Foundation (CA) and VCCA (VA). He has also won the Tin House Poetry Scholarship and was a finalist for the Frank O’Hara Award and Brittingham/Pollak Competition. He splits his time between San Francisco and New York City, where he acts as an Associate Editor for Mudfish and teaches for Berkeley College. He holds an MFA (New School), an MA (San Francisco State) and a BA (Hofstra University), all in Creative Writing.
Shelley Stenhouse won the Pavement Saw Press Award for her collection, PANTS; was a finalist for the 2009 National Poetry Series; received a New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellowship; an Allen Ginsberg Award; two Pushcart Prize nominations, and three residencies at Yaddo Art Colony. Her poem, “AIDS,” has been quoted in Poet’s Market. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in The Antioch Review, Prairie Schooner, Quarterly West, Third Coast, Margie, and New York Quarterly (among others), and in Poetry After 9-11: An Anthology of New York Poets. Shelley has read on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and on several television networks: NY1, Oxygen and Manhattan Cable’s Poetry Thin Air. She lives in Greenwich Village with her daughter, Daisygreen, and works one-on-one with writers.
Matthew Yeager’s poems have appeared or are forthcoming in NANOfiction, Maggy, Best American Poetry 2005, Best American Poetry 2010, Bat City Review, Supermachine, Gulf Coast, et al. His short film A Big Ball of Foil in a Small NY Apartment was an official selection at thirteen film festivals in 2009-2010, picking up two awards. Other distinctions include the 2009 Barthelme Prize in Short Prose and two fellowships from The MacDowell Colony. The son of a coal-miner’s daughter, he graduated high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1998. His hobbies include bicycling, visiting the chiropractor, and consuming as much content as possible as pertains to the Cincinnati Bengals. With Sean Logan, he is the co-founder of Chicken Truck Productions; he lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Jenna Le is a second-generation Vietnamese-American, born and raised just outside Minneapolis, Minnesota. She holds degrees from Harvard University (a B.A. in Mathematics) and Columbia University (an M.D.).
Andrea M. Lockett is a freelance writer and editor in New York. She has been affiliated with The New York Quarterly since 1992, initially as managing editor and currently as a member of the board of directors. She is a former editor of the literary magazine Chelsea and the former publisher of Kitchen Table Press. For several years she served on the board of advisors of The Crystal Quilt, New York’s women’s-center-without-walls, which provided educational and cultural programs for women. Her own poems, lyrics, and other writings have been published or featured in a variety of magazines, anthologies, CDs/DVDs, radio and television programs, and multimedia collaborations.
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