Megha Sood

• Megha Sood is an award-winning Asian-American Poet, Editor, Blogger, Author, and Literary activist based in Jersey City, New Jersey.
• She is an Assistant Poetry Editor for the UK-based Literary Arts Journal, Mookychick,  Literary Partner in the "Life in Quarantine" Project with CESTA, Stanford University, USA, and Associate Editor with California-based Literary Journal "Life and Legends". 
• She is also a contributing author at GoDogGO Cafe, Heretics, Lovers and Madmen, Sudden Denouement, Candles Online, Free Verse Revolution, Whisper and the Roar, and Poets Corner. She was a former contributing editor at Literary Journal Ariel Chart(US). 
• Advocacy Member with the United Nations Association (UNA- US) chapter.
• Member of National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW).
• Member of Women's National Book Associations (WNBA).
• Her 800+ works have been featured in NOW Newsletter FAO ( Food and Agriculture United Nations), Rising Phoenix Review, Tulsa Review, Poetry Society of New York(PSNY), North of Oxford, Ms. Magazine, Nebu, PBS American Portrait, WNYC Studios, New York Public Library, The Sommerville times, Muddy River Poetry Review,521 Magazine, Burrow Journal, Oddball Magazine, Stanford University, Pangolin review, Fourth and Sycamore, KOAN ( Paragon press), Stanford Daily, Mineral Lit Mag, Modern Literature, American Writers Review, SONKU Collective, WNYC Poetry Prompt, Visual Verse, Dime Show Review, Vita Brevis, Modern poetry, Stray Branch, Piker Press, Spill words Press, Indian periodicals, Literary heist, Little Rose Magazine, The Quiet Corner, Writer's Cafe Magazine, Subterranean Blue Poetry, FlowerSongPress, Life and Legends, Borderless Journal, Cafe Dissensus, Moonstone Arts and many more published in 130+ journals across the world.
• Literary Partner for the "Life in Quarantine" Project by CESTA, Stanford University, California, USA. Responsible for curating the works of artists across the globe. Recently curated the work of the US Presidential Inaugural Poet, Richard Blanco, Kaveh Akbar, Terrance Hayes, and Naomi Shihab Nye among many others.
• Awarded the Certificate of Excellence for her creative projects by the Mayor of Jersey City, Steven Fulop. Her poem was part of the "The Women" exhibit displayed outside the City Hall, Jersey City. The poem is also part of the public exhibit at Berry Lane Park, Jersey City, Columbia Park, Hamilton Park, Jersey City Library, and Paterson Poetry Festival 2021.
• Co-edited anthology ("THE MEDUSA PROJECT", MookyChick). The anthology celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the women's suffrage movement which celebrates the women's right to vote in the United States. The anthology is selected as a digital payload to be sent to the moon in 2023 via Astrobotics/NASA/SpaceX as part of the LunarCodex Project.
• Her literary partnership “Life in Quarantine” with Stanford University has been presented in the Open Education Global Forum 2020 and received mention in the newspaper Stanford Daily.
• Recipient of the 2020 Poet Fellowship from Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing ( MVICW) 
• 2021 Semifinalist for the "Shirley Holden Grant" by the National League of Pen American Women ( NLAPW)
• Nominated for "2020 Author of the Year" and " Author of the Month" by the NY-based press Spillwords.
• Her poem "Deciphering the Madness" was also broadcasted on WNYC-Studio Morning Edition as part of National Poetry Month in April 2022.

• Co-edited anthology ("THE KALI PROJECT", Indie Blu(e) Press) featuring the works of Female Indian Poets about freedom and equality. The anthology was a finalist in the Indie Book Excellence Awards 2021.

• Chapbook ( "My Body is Not an Apology") published by Finishing Line Press,2021. Ranked at no 5 on Amazon US under Asian American Poetry alongside Tishani Doshi and Ocean Vuong
• Chapbook ( "A Potpourri of Emotions") by Local Gems Press, NY managed by BEAT Poetry Foundation Poet Laureate 2021, James P Wagner.
• First Full-length collection ("My Body Lives Like a Threat" ) by FlowerSong Press, 2022, managed by Former McAllen, Texas Poet Laureate, Edward Viduarre. Semi-Finalist in the Shirley Holden Grant by NLAPW( National League of American Pen Women, Finalist in 16th Indie Book Excellence Awards, Finalist in 2022 New York Book Festival and Featured book in the Indo-American Arts Council Literary festival, IAAC, 2022)
• Featured alongside the Youth Poet laureate of the Southern United States, Alora Young, and Sophia Falco in the panel discussion " Women in Poetry's future" by the Women National Book Association(WNBA). The event was moderated by the WNBA Award Chair, Nancy Weil.
•  Panelist at the #AWP22  ( Association of Writers and Writing Program ) conference for the event “Creative Activism in Words & Action: Writers & Activists at the United Nations” on behalf of Life and Legends. Fellow panelists include Rachel Pittman, Executive Director of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA); Dunya Mikhail, Kresge Fellowship, and the United Nations Human Rights Award for Freedom recipient; Christopher Merrill: Poet, writer, and the director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, and Kalpna Singh-Chitnis: EIC and Founder of Life and Legends and Silent River Film Festival.
• Featured as a 2021 Poetry Judge for the State Level NAMI NJ Dara Axelrod Poetry Contest 2021
• Featured as 2021 Slam Poetry Judge for the NSS IIT-D ( Institute of Information Technology) for the Annual Social fest Kaizen,21
• Featured as poetry judge for the 2022 Spoken Word Competition for NY Based, The Artists Forum.
• Her works have also been selected in the literary publication of various US universities like (Temple University, Philadelphia), Stanford University, University of Albany, Kent State University, Chicago University, and Arkansas University. 
• 2022 Broadside Poetry Contest Winner at the San Gabriel Poetry Festival
• 2022 Third Place State Level Winner in NAMI ( National Alliance on Mental Illness) NJ Dara Axelrod Poetry Contest
• Nominated for the "Literary Award" by the office of Mayor and Jersey City Council of Arts (JCCA) for the Jersey City Arts Awards 2022
• Nominated for Pushcart Prize in 2020 and 2021 by "Rainbow Project" by Poets Wear Prada Journal and BrownStone Poets.
• Nominated for the "Best of the Net" by Rainbow Project, 2022
• Book showcase for the Literary festival by coveted IAAC  Literary Festival ( Indo-American Arts Council),   NY, 2022
• 2022 Finalist in the Stafford Lit Festival Poetry Contest (UK) by Staffordshire Poet Laureate, Mel Woodend
• 2022 Finalist in the 16th National Indie Excellence Book Awards for the full-length " My Body Lives Like a Threat", FlowerSong Press.
• Finalist in the New York Book Festival 2022 for the full-length " My Body Lives Like a Threat", FlowerSong Press.
• 2022 Finalist in the UK-based Erbacce Poetry Prize amongst 15,000 entries.
• 2020 National Level Winner Spring Robinson/Red Mahogany 2020 Lit Prize by Poetry Matters 
• 2022/2020/2019/2018 (Four Time)State-level winner of the NAMI ( National Alliance on Mental Illness) Dara Axelrod NJ Poetry Contest 2018/2019/2020.
• Performance venues include Nuyorican Cafe, New York Poetry Festival, Hoboken Historical Museum, Hoboken Library, Paterson Poetry Festival, When Woman Speak, BrownStone Poets, Oceanside Library, New York Public Library, Walt Whitman Birthplace Association(WWBA), Jersey City Public Library, Jersey City Historic Apple House, Newark Arts Festival, Hudson County Community College, Arts House, Woman National Book Association, Walk_Bye Exhibit, InFull Color, Hartford Book Festival, Panorama International Literary Festival (PILF),  in full color, ARTFEMININ Turkey Arts Festival, SETU Women Poets Festival, and many more. 
• Featured in the PBS American Portrait Collection 2021, The Story of Us told by Us.
• Featured in Podcasts/Radio shows like "Divas That Care" by Candace Gish, "Assiduous Dust by Joshua Corwin" "Eat The Storms" by, NPR Morning Show by Brian Lehrer, WOW ( Wow of Women), Pandora Peoples at 92.3FM, Provincetown, MA, USA and 93.1FM at New Orleans, USA, WRUU 107.5 and WNYC Studios Morning Edition.
• Press Mention in the newspapers, Academy of American Poets(Pw. Org), Washington based INdina Star, EINPresswire, New Jersey Stage, Hudson Reporter, NJ.com, Jersey City Times, Broadway.com, Yelp, Queen's Gazette, Philadelphia Enquirer, NASA Singapore Press Outlet, NewsBreak, Women's Web, Line Rider Press, NJ ArteMaven and many more.

Notable Anthologies:

• Anthology " Black Fire This Time" by Willow Books curated by Dr. Kim McMillon. The anthology will be published in February 2022 and include the work of Nikki Giovanni, James Baldwin, Ishmael Reed, Margaret Walker, Dudley Randall, Gwendolyn Brooks, and so many more.
• Anthology "Reimagine America" by Vagabond Press curated by Mark Lipman featuring the works of Matt Sedillo, David Dephy, Thelma T Reyna, US Poet Laureate and Chancellor for Academy of American Poets, Joy Harjo, and many others.
• Dovetales: Letters from Self to the World, USA, 2021 featuring Ethel Millar, Former Editor of Poet Lore, This issue will highlight past contributors, among them Sam Hamill, Martín Espada, W.S. Merwin, Adriana Páramo, Stephen Kuusisto,  E.Ethelbert Miller and many more.
• Featured in the 25th Annual Poetry Ink Moonstone Arts Anthology alongside Sonia Sanchez, Toi Derricote, and many more.
• Featured in the Wednesday Night Poetry, the country's longest weekly poetry reading event hosted by Kai Coggin
• Poetry Published in the December Newsletter “NOW” of FAO ( Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations) in honor of World Food Day 2021. 
• Anthology “Earth: A Place Worth Fighting For”, featuring her poem, curated by the UK-based Staffordshire Poet Laureate, Mel Wardle Woodend has received a letter of thanks from the British Legend Sir David Attenborough.
• Boundless Anthology VIPF, Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival, 2021 curated by the former McAllen, Texas Poet Laureate, Edward Viduarre, USA
• Anthology "Paws Healing the Earth", River Paw Press, 2021 curated by Kalpna Singh Chitnis and includes the work of US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Robert Pinsky.
• Surviving the Suicide, Nirala Publications, 2021 curated by Yuyutsu Sharma and featuring the works of esteemed poet Dr. Ravi Shankar.
• Poetry Featured in "Poetry and COVID" Poetry and COVID ( University of Plymouth) Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK Gov
• Poetry published in the anthology "New Beats" by  National Beats Poetry Foundation, USA,2022
• Poetry Published in NYPL ( New York Public Library) ezine, Dec 2021.
• Anthology 25th Annual Poetry Ink by MoonArts Press curated by Larry Robin featuring the works of Toi Derricote, Sonia Sanchez Tim Tipton, and many others.
• Poetry published as a featured poet in the "Pen Women" Magazine by The National League of American Pen Women,  (NLAPW) , 2022
• Anthology on 21-Century Indian English Poets by Seema Jain and Sahitya Akademi, 2022
• Co-edited Anthology " Brownstone Poets" featuring the works of Patricia Carragon, Carrie Magnus Radna, Susana H Case, Rescue Poetix and many more. July 2022, USA
• Anthology "100 Thousand Poets for Change", International Women's Day" and " Support Ukraine" by Moonstone Arts Press, Philadelphia, USA
• Anthology " Home" by The Brown Critique Anthology, March 2022, USA
• Anthology "Voice Within"  by Pittsburg-based SETU Magazine, USA, March 2022
• Haiku published in the MS Magazine project as part of The Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Project, USA, 2022
• Antholgy "Women in Tapestry of Indian Mythology" by Hawakal Publications, India, October 2022
• Anthology " Kaleidoscopes" International Calcutta Book Fair 2022 ( International Cultural Centre) Calcutta, India
• Poetry published as a finalist in Stafford Lit Poetry Competition 2022 ( Poetry For Adults), UK
• Anthology "Pandemic of Violence II-Poets Speak" 2022 by North of Oxford, US
• Anthology " Soul Spaces: Poems About Cities, Towns and, Villages" by AuthorsPress edited by Dr. Anita Nahal, E,. Ethelbert Miller, Jayadeep Sarangi, Cyril Babydeen, Prof. Malashree Lal, Prof. Nandini Sahu, Basundhara Roy Chatterji and Swati Pal, USA, 2022
• Anthology " Twin Tower, Twin Decades"  and " New Jersey Bards Poetry Review" by Local Gems Press by National Beat Poetry Foundation Poet Laureate, James P Wagner, 2022, USA

Notable Readings/Events/Interviews

• Poetry Reading at the Hoboken Library " Positive Reading Series" to celebrate National Poetry Month.
• Featured Poet in the iGlobal Series curated by eminent poet, Yogesh Patel
• Featured Poet at the Hoboken Historical Museum "Something New" alongside Frank Messina and reg e gaines
• Poetry reading on the Governors Island as part of the New York Poetry Festival with Queens Poet Laureate, Maria Lisella as part of the Thursday Morning Poets Group.
• Featured Poet in the "Essential Voices" webinar by the FlowerSong Press.
• Featured Poet in the Saturday Afternoon poetry by Spectrum Publishing
• Feature Poet in the "When People Speak" and "When Women Speak" NJ Based Poetry Organizations.
• Poetry as part of the Art Exhibition Group Show “The Women” by Walk_Bye to be placed at City Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
• Panel Discussion for the event"Women in Poetry's future" by Women National Book Association (WNBA) along with Sophia Falco and Virginia Youth Poet Laureate, Alora Young moderated by WNBA Award Chair and Co-Vice President Nancy Weil
• Poetry reading and discussions are part of the #StopAAPIHate  with the awards-winning organization InFullColor
• Poetry Reading as part of the one-year anniversary of Open Road Poetry, founded by the JC Poet Laureate Susan Justiniano and Crystal Davis.
• Poetry Featured as part of the JCFPL ( Jersey City Free Public Library) Showcase 2021
• Poetry reading at the historic Nuyorican Cafe as part of the "When Women Speak" event in April 2021
• Poetry Reading at the Hudson County Community College Cultural Affairs “Step Up to the Mic” Event on April 14, 2021 #NationalPoetryMonth2021
• Poetry Reading for the 13th Annual Words for Birds 2021 organized by Mitchell Lake Audubon center on April 24, 2021, at 7pm CST/8 pm EST #NationalPoetryMonth2021
• Poetry reading at the “When Women Speak”(Women empowering women through voice) poetry event on Feb 16, 2021
• Poetry Reading at the “The Box: Reinvention” event by Jersey City Theater Center curated by the Jersey City Poet Laureate Rescue Poetix and Arial Guidry
• Poetry Reading at the IFC ( In Full Color)Badass Babe Bash Event on the International Woman’s Day 2021
• The poem “Survival Is an Art” to be read by award-winning UK Based singer Tally Koren at the “Changing the Face of Poetry” event on World Poetry Day, March 21, 2021
• Poetry Reading at the Maria Lisella (Queens Poet Laureate)Poetry Workshop, April 15, 2021
• Featured Poet in Brownstone Poetry Reading 2020, Brooklyn, New York
• Featured Poet in Oceanside Library reading, 2020, NY alongside Maria Lisella ( Poet Laureate, Brooklyn, NY and 2020 Fellow Academy of American Poets)
• Poetry Podcast National Beat Poetry Foundation 2020 Anthology
• Featured in “Just Breathe”- Jersey City Community Poem curated by JC Poet Laureate Rashad Wright and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop.
• Featured as one of the artists in the Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC)Conversation Online -Voices from around the World by Olga Levina Episode: Strength
• Featured as one of the artists in the Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC)Conversation Online -Voices from around the World by Olga Levina Episode: Courage
• Poetry reading at the Jersey City Genre reading night: Night of hidden Life
• Poetry reading at the Rooftop series at the Department of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) as part of the Jersey City Poetry Festival.
• Poetry Reading at 2020 NAMI NJ Virtual Annual Meeting Awards Ceremony
• Poetry reading at Elizabeth Youth Center Ensemble organized by Open Road Poetry
• Poetry Workshop for an IB Elementary School, Jersey City, New Jersey
• Poetry reading at the IAWA.NET ( Italian American Writers Association) curated by Queens Poet Laureate Maria Lisella.
• Poetry Reading at the Brownstone Poets with Yuyutsu Sharma, Bertha Rogers, and Carrie Magnus Radna on Saturday, December 12, 2020
• Featured on the BlogTalkRadioShow Episode “Generating Awareness” by WOW of Women and Divas That Care Network
• Podcast Interview on Assiduous Dust by LA-based Joshua Corwin
• Poetry Featured in the Heard/Word Audio Series of the Galleyway, NY
• Poetry Reading with Spectrum Publishing, Pasadena, California, USA
• Poetry Reading with “First Fridays” event at The Soap Box Press
• Poetry Reading with EIC Glenn Lyvers ( Prolific Press)
• Hosted the #TopTweetTuesday for the UK Based Black Bough Poetry
• Poetry reading at the Jersey City Genre reading night: Myths and Monsters
• Haiku included in sound collage project in works by OCMA ( Orange County Museum of Arts), California, the USA curated by Sound artist Alan Nakagawa
• Poetry reading at the NAMI ( National Alliance for Mental Illness) Annual awards and Luncheon program 2019.
• Poetry reading for It Can’t Happen Here at Moonstone Arts Center, Philadelphia on January 31, 2021
• Book Launch of the Poetry Anthology “Earth: A Place Worth Fighting For” in Feb 17,2021
• Poetry Reading for the Upcoming Festival of Poetry “Anantha” by Samyukta Poetry on April 17, 2021, at 7:30pm EST #HappyNationalPoetryMonth
• Poetry Reading at the SETU International Women Poets on December 19, 2020
• Featured as Guest Speaker at the book launch of “The Read Diary”, a Novel by Neelam Saxena Chandra
• Poetry Reading at the 5th International Poetry Meet, 12 March 2021
• Featured Poet in the “Stri Shakti: A Poetic Tribute by Women Poets” by SETU Bilingual Magazine, Pittsburgh, USA
• Poetry reading at the Radioshow “Songs of Selah” by Scott Thomas Outlar for poems published in Alien Buddha Press House of Horrors #3
• Poetry Reading at the Walt Whitman 2021 Birthday celebration with Walt Whitman Birthplace Association (WWBA)
• Poetry Reading at the Book Store, Manhatten, NYC for " Storefront Poetry Reading" with FlowerSong Press authors.