Sarah Sarai

Poet, Fiction Writer

New York, NY
New York US
Twitter/X: 

Author's Bio

I'm author of THAT STRAPLESS BRA IN HEAVEN (Kelsay Books: so far reviewed on the sites Constant Reader; Necromancy Doesn't Pay; and Heavy Feather Review); GEOGRAPHIES OF SOUL AND TAFFETA (Indolent Books: reviewed in Pleiades; The Bind; decomP; The Daily Art Source); and THE FUTURE IS HAPPY (BlazeVOX: reviewed in American Book Review and elsewhere). I've taught at Pace, Fordham University, in the CUNY system, and at Antioch/Seattle (for four years in the reading lab). My MFA in Fiction is from Sarah Lawrence College. My body is in New York. My imagination roams. 
I help organize the annual Alternative New York Poetry Extravaganza, an all-day event; and have organized other readings which do not last 10 hours. 

How do I pay my rent? I work as an independent editor. The author determines the specifics. If greenlit I help with development, organization, do a thorough copyedit of most anything with words: novels, nonfiction books, and poetry collections. I offer suggestions on phrasing and organization, highlight inconsistencies, and correct simple errors. Basically, if I see something I say something. Hmmm. Contact me for more information. 

Publications & Prizes

Fiction

Chapbook:
The Young Orator (Winged City Press, 2014)
Journals: ,
Bellowing Ark
,
Callisto
,
Connotation Press: An Online Artifact
, ,
Fiction At Work
, ,
Gravel Literary Journal
,
Homestead Review
,
MacQueen’s Quinterly
, ,
Ragazine
,
Raven Chronicles
,
Rye Whiskey Review
, ,
Stet
,
Stone's Throw
,
Storyglossia
, , ,
Unlikely Stories
,
VerbSap.com
,
Weber Studies
,
Webster Review
,
West
,

Poetry

Anthologies:
Pure Slush (Pure Slush, 2021)
,
Birds fall silent in the mechanical sea (Great weather for MEDIA, 2019)
,
Stonewall's Legacy (Local Gems Press, 2019)
,
Like a Fat Gold Watch: Meditations on Sylvia Plath and Living (Fat Gold Watch Press, 2017)
,
Composing Poetry: A Guide to Writing Poems and Thinking Lyrically (Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2016)
,
Gathered: Contemporary Quaker Poets (Sundress Publications, 2013)
,
The OR Panthology: Ocellus Reseau (Other Rooms Press, 2013)
,
Maintenant 6 (Three Rooms Press, 2012)
,
Say It Loud: Poems About James Brown (Whirlwind Press, 2011)
,
you say. say. (Uphook Press, 2009)
Books:
That Strapless Bra in Heaven (Kelsay Books, 2019)
,
Geographies of Soul and Taffeta (Indolent Books, 2018)
,
The Future Is Happy (BlazeVOX books, 2009)
Chapbooks:
O You of the Cotton Pajamas! (Dusie Press, 2016)
,
I Feel Good (Beard of Bees, 2013)
,
Emily Dickinson's Coconut Face (Dusie Press, 2013)
Journals: ,
Ascent
,
Barrow Street
,
Big City Lit
, , , , ,
Dillydoun Review
, ,
Dressing Room Poetry Journal
, , ,
Fifth Wednesday Journal
,
Flaneur Foundry
,
Folly Magazine
,
Ghost City Review
,
GHOTI
, ,
Isacoustic
,
Lambda Literary
,
MiPOesias
,
Misfitmagazine
,
Mississippi Review
,
Moss Trill
, , ,
Okay Donkey
,
Otoliths
, ,
Pank
,
Parthenon West Review
, ,
Ping Pong
,
Prelude
,
Queen Mob's Tea House
, ,
Red Peter
,
Redheaded Stepchild
, , ,
Spinozablue
,
Sprung Formal
, , ,
The New York Quarterly
,
The Wallace Stevens Journal
, , , ,
Vending Machine Press
,
West Wind Review
,
Willows Wept Review
,
Yew
,
Zocalo Public Square
,
Fine Madness
,
Frigg Magazine
,
Minnesota Review
,
Potomac Review
,
Stained Sheets
, , ,
Prizes won: 

Selected for 92nd Street Y master class in fiction with James Salter and Poets House master class in poetry with C.K. Williams. Recipient of: --Seattle Arts Commission Grant in Scriptwriting; --King County Arts Commission Grant in Fiction; --King County Arts Commission Grant (as editor) for special issue of Northwest Ethnic News. Recipient of an NEH Fellowship: National Endowment for Humanities for Secondary Educators: Summer Seminar at Kenyon College. In a seminar with ten other high school teachers, we discussed "Friendship in Literature." The workshop was led by Ronald A. Sharp, co-editor (with Eudora Welty) of the Norton Book of Friendship.  Winner of the LordJesusChristSavior (that is how it's spelled-no breaks) poetry contest. Helen Losse, Poetry Editor for The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and Associate Editor for Kentucky Review was the judge.

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
James Baldwin, Diane Seuss, Claudia Rankine, Anne Carson, Christopher Bram, Jonathan Dee, Mina Loy, Daphne du Maurier, Alison Hedge Coke, Pessoa, and an infinity of others, including the old ones from way back.

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Born in: 
Port Washington, NY
New York
Raised in: 
Los Angeles, CA
California
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Apr 07, 2023