Alissa Sammarco

Poet

Cincinnati, OH
Ohio US
Email: 
[email protected]
Website: 
www.AlissaSammarco.com
Twitter/X: 
@AJSammarco

Author's Bio

Alissa Sammarco is an Italian American writer and attorney.  She is a two time winner of the International Impact Book Award. Alissa’s poems paint pictures of the extraordinary that exists in ordinary everyday moments. In addition to her law practice and writing, Alissa curated art exhibits between 2012 and 2017.  In 2023, Alissa’s poems were featured with the art of her mother, Melissa Sammarco (dec. 2017), in ekphrastic shows at Art Beyond Boundaries and Washington Park Art Gallery in Cincinnati.  Her books Paper Doll and Moon Landing Day won the International Impact Book Award.  Her poems have appeared in many online and print journals including The Main Street Rag, Sheila-Na-Gig, Stone Canoe, Black Moon Magazine, Quiet Diamonds, VIA: Voices in Italian Americana, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, and elsewhere. She has published 7 books: Paper Doll (Main Street Rag 2026), Italian Dinner Music (Turning Point 2025), The Waiting Room (Turning Point 2025), Cupcake Day (Turning Point 2024), Moon Landing Day (Finishing Line Press 2024),  I See Them Now (Turning Point 2024), and Beyond the Dawn (Turning Point 2023).

www.AlissaSammarco.com; Instagram @AlissaSammarcoWrites.

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
North Coast Anthology (Main Street Rag Publishing Company, 2026)
,
Ohio Bards (Local Gems Poetry Press, 2026)
,
Poets of the Promise (Local Gems Poetry Press, 2026)
,
A Kinder Kindling Than Most (Workhorse, 2025)
,
Poets of the Promise (Local Gems Poetry Press, 2025)
,
Sunflowers Rising (Poets for Peace, 2025)
,
Tributaria (Dos Madres Press, 2025)
,
Ohio Bards (Local Gems Press, 2023)
,
Something Like Sentience Scattered and Smoldering (Workhorse, 2023)
,
Locks & Bones & Bells & Stones & Stamps & Maps (Workhorse, 2022)
,
But there was fire in the distance (Workhorse, 2021)
Books:
Paper Doll (Main Street Rag Publishing Company, 2026)
,
Italian Dinner Music (Turning Point, 2025)
,
The Waiting Room (Turning Point, 2025)
Chapbooks:
Cupcake Day (Turning Point, 2025)
,
I See Them Now (Turning Point, 2024)
,
Moon Landing Day (Finishing Line Press, 2024)
,
Beyond the Dawn (Turning Point, 2023)
Journals:
Black Moon Magazine
,
Change Seven
,
Evening Street Review
,
The Main Street Rag
,
Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel
,
Quiet Diamonds
,
Rat's Ass Review
,
Sheila-Na-Gig
,
Stone Canoe
,
Voices in Italian Americana
,
Yearling
Prizes won: 
  • 2026 Paper Doll was awarded The International Impact Book Award, Female Identity Category. 
  • 2025 Moon Landing Day was awarded The International Impact Book Award, the Addiction & Recovery Category
  • 2022 Quiet Diamonds Honorable Mention, The Orchard Street Press
  • 2022 Patricia Dobler Award - Finalist, Carlow University
  • 1987 Pearl Stearling Evans Award for Most Promising Woman Writer
  • 1987 1st Place Drama, University of Rochester
  • 1986 1st Place Drama, University of Rochester
  • 1985 1st Place Drama, University of Rochester

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Italian American
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English, Spanish
Born in: 
Raised in: 
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jun 18, 2026