Lorraine Currelley

Poet

New York, NY
New York US

Author's Bio

Lorraine Currelley, daughter, poet, spoken word performance artist, Pearls of Wisdom storyteller, educator, visual/multimedia artist and art/literary curator and essayist. President & executive director for Poets Network & Exchange, Inc. an award winning  literary organization; where she curates and produces featured poetry and spoken word readings, poetry and creative writing workshops, panel discussions, open mic, blog and a scholar lecture series.  In 2017 she made herstory becoming the first female executive director for the Bronx Book Fair, the premiere literary event in the Bronx. 

Widely anthologized publications include but not limited to Earth: Dig It New Generation Beat Poets Laureate An Anthology 2023, New Generation Beats, National Beat Poetry Foundation, Inc.  2023 Anthology, Natural Words An Environmental Anthology of Poems 2023, Nat'l & Int'l Goddess NBPF 2023 Festival Anthology, Beat Style Love Poems Anthology 2023. NYC From the Inside, NYC Through The Eyes of the Poets Who Live Here, edited and with an introduction by George Wallace 2022 Blue Light Press. From the Ancestors: Poems and Prayers for Future Generations edited by Ron Whitehead, Trancemission Press 2020. Writing the Walls, Hudson Valley MOCA Publishers and Climbing the Walls, Studio Theater In Exile 2020. Resistance, DoveTales 2020, Empathy in Art: Embracing the other, DoveTales 2018, Refugees and the Displaced, DoveTales 2017, Family & Cultural Identity, DoveTales 2016, Mandela Tributes 2014, PA PoetsArtists #57 2014, Blind Beggar Press 35th Anniversary Anthology, Shirley Part of the Problem Belladonna Publishers, Sling Magazine, Mom Egg Review, MER VOX Gallery (Curator) and Gaptooth Girlfriends: The Third Act, An Anthology. Compulsive Reader (book reviewer 2016 to present.) Memberships include Poets & Writers, AWP, National Writers Union, Studio Museum in Harlem and Hudson Valley MOCA. Workshopped with playwright and actress Laurie Carlos (deceased) the original woman in blue in For Colored Girls written by Ntosake Shange, Jessica Hagedorn, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan,  Ginnah Howard and Remica L. Bingham among others. She's a founding member and the former president for The Harlem Arts Fund.

She has a Master of Science Degree in Mental Health Counseling, a Bachelor  of Science in Psychology and a Certificate in Thanatology (grief and bereavement). She resides in New York City.

Publications & Prizes

Anthology:
New Rain Volume ll, The 35th Anniversary of Blind Beggar Press Collectors Edition Anthology (Blind Beggar Press, 2012)
Book:
Gaptooth Girlfriends The Third Act (Gaptooth Girlfriends The Third Act, 1994)
Journal:
DoveTales
Prizes won: 

Awards and acknowledgements include but are not limited to: New Generation Beat Poet Laureate 2023-Lifetime New York, National President USA Mil Mentes Por Mexico Association International 2023, Bronx Beat Poet Laureate 2020-2022 State of New York Award. Bronx Council on the Arts Arts Fund Award 2023, Bronx Council on the Arts Arts Fund Award and Community Arts Awards 2020 and 2021. Bronx Council on the Arts Community Artist Award 2018 and 2019. Bronx Council on the Arts Su-Casa  formerly  S.P.A.R.C., Seniors Partnering with the Arts Citywide Residency Grantee 2014.  BinderCon Scholar Awardee 2014 and 2016. New York Public Library Arts for A Lifetime Awardee 2015. AWP Spotlight 2015/2016. Poets & Writers, Inc. Spotlight and Cross Cultural Reading  organization invitation 2015/2016.  

 

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
African American, Black
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
New York, NY
New York
Raised in: 
New York, NY
New York
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Nov 01, 2023