{"product_id":"the-sapphires","title":"The Sapphires","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHelen Ruggieri\u003c\/strong\u003e published her first poem in \u003cem\u003eThe English Journal\u003c\/em\u003e in 1972. Since then, she’s published close to 200 poems in little magazines, academic journals and anthologies. Her first book, \u003cem\u003eThe Poetess,\u003c\/em\u003e was published in 1983 followed by two chapbooks, \u003cem\u003eConcrete Madonna\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Rock City Hill Exercises.\u003c\/em\u003e Later books include \u003cem\u003eGlimmer Girls, Butterflies Under a Japanese Moon, The Kingdom Where Everybody Sings Off Key,\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Kingdom Where No One Keeps Time.\u003c\/em\u003e She also has two books of creative nonfiction:\u003cem\u003e The Character for Woman\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eCamping in the Galaxy.\u003c\/em\u003e Additionally, she has edited an anthology about the Allegheny River, \u003cem\u003eWritten on Water.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRuggieri taught for 20 years at the University of Pittsburgh, Bradford, PA, and led writing workshops for the Mental Health Association, the African American Center for Cultural Development, and at the Olean Public Library where she coordinated the reading series sponsored by NYSCA for 10 years. With a grant from the local Arts Council, she led writing workshops across the county and also worked with Alternative Literary Programs in the School for several years. She coordinates a poetry contest for area high school students for the Friends of the Olean Library. Over the years she has organized readings in bars, schools, libraries, even furniture stores.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAs a member of the University of Pittsburgh’s East Asian Studies faculty, she spent a semester in Japan at Yokohama College and received a grant to video locations on the road from Kyoto to Kamakura documenting the trip of a 14th century Japanese nun, Abutsu, author of \u003cem\u003eJournal of the Waning Moon.\u003c\/em\u003e She has published many award-winning haiku, including the Kasamakura prize for foreign language entries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRuggieri has an MA from St. Bonaventure University and an MFA from Penn State and was named a notable grad. She studied at the Atlantic Center for the Arts with William Stafford and after the month-long workshop the 12 students in the group started a newsletter called Verbal Events which continued for 25 years with annual reunions across the U.S.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRuggieri received a lifetime achievement award from Who’s Who. Her work has been reviewed in many magazines which can be seen on her website www.helenruggieri.com. You can also view videos of her readings, see work samples, and read entries from her blog.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRuggieri has read from her works in many places in the New York State and Pennsylvania area. She has read at Writers and Books in Rochester, NY; Gray Hair Series in Buffalo, NY, including 100,000 poets for peace at Silo City in Buffalo; Word Thursday in the Catskills; Byrdcliffe in Woodstock, NY; Albany, NY; and many other venues in the area.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eContact her at rugg3963@gmail.com for readings. Visit Amazon for copies of her books.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePaperback: 76 pages\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Kelsay Books (April 6, 2023)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kelsay Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48176452665502,"sku":"rib1787286750332","price":13.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6345\/4366\/files\/the-sapphires_1.jpg?v=1787286755","url":"https:\/\/urbanwearstore.shop\/products\/the-sapphires","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}