Cynthia Gallaher

Since I've started writing, I've come out with four published poetry collections: Epicurean Ecstasy: More Poems About Food, Drink, Herbs & Spices (The Poetry Box, 2018); Earth Elegance (March Abrazo Press, Chicago, 2000) poems on animals and the environment; Swimmer’s Prayer (Missing Spoke Press, Seattle, 1999), poems about Chicago; and Night Ribbons (Polar Bear Press, Chicago, 1990); and three chapbooks, most recently Drenched (Main Street Rag Publishing Company, 2018). Also a nonfiction memoir, reference and guide, Frugal Poets' Guide to Life: How to Live a Poetic Life, Even If You Aren't a Poet (Bookbaby, 2016), which won a National Indie Excellence Award. I appear on the Chicago Public Library’s list of “Top Ten Requested Chicago Poets,” and was named one of “100 Women Making a Difference” by Today’s Chicago Woman magazine. I have received numerous grants from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs for both poetry and theater writing, and from the Illinois Arts Council, and have been honored by the Illinois Library Association and the Illinois State Library. My poems are featured in various anthologies, including Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking Up the Jams (Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, 2010), Stand Up Poetry: An Expanded Anthology (University of Iowa Press, 2002) and Boomer Girls: Poems by Women from the Baby Boom Generation (University of Iowa Press, 1999). Pearson/Scott Foresman published three of my short plays, which appear in its middle school textbooks. Nearly 200 of my poems have been published in small press magazines and anthologies.