All Award Winners Listed Here
Biographies of Award Winners for Issue -I, March 2008
Nikhil Parekh (Enchanting Poet award winner for Issue-I)
Nikhil Parekh is a three-time World Record Holder poet with the Limca Book of Records India (Only 2nd in Official World Rankings to Guinness Book of World Records) . These 3 world records held by Parekh are for (1) 'Being the 1st Indian Poet to be published in the Commonwealth newsletter for his poem on AIDS which is: Aids doesnt kill. Your Attitude kills', (2) 'Being the 1st Indian Poet to win an EPPIE award for best poetry e-book' and (3) 'Writing the most number of letters to and receiving the most number of replies from World Leaders and World Organizations'. He has composed thousands of poems on several global topics like: Peace, Anti Terror, Friendship, Humanity, Environment & Wildlife Conservation, AIDS, Tsunami, Blindness,spiritual Oneness, Human Rights, Immortal Love, Banning female foeticide etc. Parekh is a recipient of several major international awards in poetry which include 'Poet of the Year Award' at the Canadian Federation of Poets. His poems have been published in the world's leading and acclaimed magazines and websites including the McGill's English Dictionary of Rhyme, which is the world's number 1 English Rhyming dictionary. Parekh was ‘Poet of the Year 2006’ at Canadian Federation of Poets (federationofpoets.com) and has appeared as ‘India’s Treasured Poet’ on the Cover Page of ‘Poetry Canada’ which is the International publication of the federation.Parekh’s poetry books ‘1 God/ 656 pages’ and ‘The Power of Black/621 pages’ have been published and released by Chipmunka Publishing (chipmunkapublishing.com) in the United Kingdom which is the World’s first ever Mental Health and wellness publisher. Several of his other poetry books which include ----‘Love Versus Terrorism/605 pages’ ----‘The Womb/235 pages’---- ‘You die; I die/ 1380 pages’ ---- ‘Life = Death/ 1165 pages’---- ‘Longest Poem/77 pages’---- ‘Hide and Seek/607 pages’---- ‘If you cut a tree; You cut your own mother/200 pages’ --- are selling as EBooks via the World’s Largest E-book Publishing websites such as: Lulu.com( USA), Ebookomatic.com (USA), Cyberread.com ( USA) and Ebookmall.com (USA). He is rated among the top 500 poets of the world. Parekh’s complete world records, poems, books, achievements and various other works can be further browsed at his website:
www.nikhilparekh.com
Michael Shepherd (Editor's Choice -I Award winner)
Farmwork; 9-14 teacher; pro-am drama; scholarship to Oxford University to study Anglo-Saxon and English Literature; dropout; backstage Ballets de Paris; industrial journalism; dropout; midlife crisis around 25; invoice typist; dropout; bookshop assistant; art journalist; book reviewer; small book on Barbara Hepworth,1963; art critic for national newspapers and magazines 20 years; radio and television work; presented to Queen Mother for services to Canadian art; and to Rajeev Gandhi for services to Indian art; Post-graduate Thesis Tutor, Royal Academy of Art 20 years; Selector and Juror Mid-States Art Contest, Indiana; translator and research team for Letters of Marsilio Ficino; obituary writer for The Times; 24/7 carer 7 years; writer/editor of Ficino celebratory volume 1999(see Books page here) now translated into Dutch; political satirist for website, 'Call Me Tony'; proofreader for forthcoming 18-volume Encyclopaedia of Hindu Philosophy; various essays on 50 years of Zimbabwean sculpture; historical context essay for 'Gardens of Philosophy: Ficino on Plato' by Arthur Farndell, Shepheard-Walwyn Publishers,2006, £18.95; Godstow Press in Oxford published 136 sonnets under the title 'Awakening to Myself' in December 2004.He is rated among the top 500 poets of the world.
Apurva Iyengar(Special Entry into Biography section)
The prestigious Limca Record holder B.Y. Apurva Iyengar is a prodigious poetess. Apurva, the only daughter of Shri B.K.Yogish and Smt. Sudha, is a spontaneous and creative writer. She began penning poems & rhymes in English & Hindi at the age of 5. Her poems wide ranging from dolls & dresses to god & his creations merged to form wonderful creative verses from the tender age of 7.Her poetry kitty consisted of 200 poems in English and Hindi when she was 10 yrs old. She got her maiden work of 100 english poems published by the esteemed Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai in the year 1998-99 under the title ‘Shri Satyapurva poetry-100 poems by a child’ when she was 12 years old. At an age of 14 she had a collection of 500 poems. She gained entry into the Limca Book of Records [yr 2003] as a “Youngest Poetess” of India with a publication when she was studying in class XI at BSRKV, Sainikpuri. Having won the south zone level Balsri award, she represented Hyderabad in NewDelhi as a Balsri finalist at ‘The National Balsri Camp’. Apurva’s poem ‘There love resides’, received “Special Recognition Award” from the international youth poetry website –voicesnet.com in 2004.Her poems were appreciated by the former PM Shri A.B.Vajpayee. She has presented her own program of poetry over ‘All India Radio’ in Chennai & Hyderabad. DoorDarshan, ETV – Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, & Kannada channels have introduced her rare talent through news media. Almost all the leading dailies, journals, in more than 6 languages have given write-ups about her poetic achievement. Poems written by Apurva for the silver jubilee celebrations of BVBPS, BHEL was composed and sung by the students. She has won umpteen awards & prizes in various Socio-Cultural & literary competitions of which she won a national level prize in an essay writing competition conducted by the chinmayya mission. Apurva’s poems have been appreciated for the patriotic fervour which they arouse, spiritual insight and nature love which are evidently displayed in her first collection of published poems. Her articles ranging from college, classroom to classical music are frequently published in The Hindu (education plus) , The New Indian Express and the Bhavans Journal (www.bhavans.info) . Apurva was awarded the Pratibha Puraskar for being a young achiever by the AIPC, Khurja. She was invited to an International Poets Conference & Symposium conducted by the prestigious INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF POETS at Florida (in March,2002) and at Washington D.C (August 2002) . Several awards and more than 70 certificates in various co curricular activities are to her credit. This young poetess aims to achieve Nobel Prize in the field of Literature. She has donated Rs.1116/- to the Gujarat Earthquake Relief Fund and Rs 1116/- to the C.M’s Relief Fund for the welfare of orphan, needy and disabled children through the profit sales of her maiden poetry work. She aspires to cut her own video album, poetry cassettes and also wishes to see her 800 poems (as on date) in the book form for which she needs sponsors. She wants to donate to the UNICEF & P.M’s Relief Fund through the sales of her audio and video cassettes, books that would be made through the financial assistance of various service organisations. She aspires to be a poetess of repute and an able IAS officer. A ‘Young Achiever’ (as introduced by The Times of India) , Apurva is one of the ‘youngest member’ of The Poetry Society of India, New Delhi.Recently Apurva has suddenly turned into a beautiful lyrics writers and her lyrics have appeared in the non commercial patriotic film named "Vande Mataram".
David Taylor(Editor's Choice-II Award winner)
David Taylor is the Director of Patronica Ltd United Kingdom.A very versatile and accomplished yet humble poet.He is rated among the top 500 poets of the world.
Biographies of Award Winners for Issue -II, May 2008
Laurence Overmire(Enchanting Poet Award Winner for Issue-II)
LAURENCE OVERMIRE is an emerging voice for conscience and consciousness in the poetry world. Popularly known as “The Genealogist-Poet,” he has had a multi-faceted career as writer, actor, director and educator. His award-winning poetry, eclectic in form, style, and subject matter, and often provocative in its direct confrontation of social issues, has been widely published in the U.S. and abroad in hundreds of magazines, journals, and anthologies. His plays include Slingshot, A Woman in Washington’s Army, and A Scrooge Mart Christmas Carol.Born in Rochester, New York, and raised in Ohio, Mr. Overmire has since lived in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Alaska at various times in his life. He graduated summa cum laude as Valedictorian of Muskingum College, Ohio, with a B.A. in theatre and a B.S. in psychology, and was awarded a Bush Fellowship to attend the University of Minnesota, where he earned his M.F.A.Overmire won a second Bush Fellowship to become a professional actor with the world-renowned Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis where he worked with such prominent directors as Alan Schneider, Richard Foreman, Garland Wright and Liviu Ciulei. He then went on to a successful career on stage, film and television in New York, Hollywood and points-in-between including the Broadway production of Amadeus directed by Sir Peter Hall, the network television soap operas All My Children, As the World Turns, One Life to Live , and Loving, Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, Charles Busch's zany Off-Broadway hits Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and Psycho Beach Party, Equity Library Theatre, Roy Brocksmith's California Cottage Theatre, Alaska Repertory Theatre, Buffalo's Studio Arena Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Totem Pole Playhouse, and Yale Repertory Theatre. He also served as Executive Producer of the Writer’s Lab, a non-profit organization in Hollywood to promote quality writing in the entertainment industry, and has been involved in teaching in the arts for over 25 years, designing programs for Lincoln Center Institute of New York City, Manhattan Theatre Club, MeadowBrook Theatre, and Oregon Children's Theatre among others.Mr. Overmire began writing poetry as a way to document and reflect upon his experience, compiling what he refers to as a “diary in art.” Overmire's background in the arts, rather than in academia, gives him a decidedly different perspective on the writing of poetry, one that emphasizes a right-brain as opposed to a left-brain approach and advocates complete freedom within the art form, simplicity of language, and focus on the importance of what is being expressed. Like an actor taking on different roles, his poems take on many voices and run the gamut from beat to lyric to classical in style and tone. His work is at once accessible, yet multi-layered and quite complex upon further examination. As a result, he has gained quite a following among those who appreciate his down-to-earth musings on what he sees going on in our world today.A respected genealogist, Mr. Overmire is himself a descendant of Gov. William Bradford, William Brewster, and seven other Mayflower passengers, three Native American ancestral lines, England's King Edward III, Scotland's Robert the Bruce and Sir William “Braveheart” Wallace. He is a distant cousin of poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, e. e. cummings and T. S. Eliot, as well as playwrights Thornton Wilder and Tennessee Williams. Mr. Overmire is quick to point out, however, that such relationships are not at all unusual. The truth is that ALL of us are descended from famous historical figures and ALL of us can count numerous famous people among our relatives. In fact, much of his poetry is focused on this central theme, that we are all related, all part of the same human family, and intimately dependent on one another for our collective well-being. He has published several impressive genealogical studies online, most notably “The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft, Richardson, Bradford, Reed,” which includes the family trees of many U. S. Presidents and European monarchs, and a host of famous statesmen, soldiers, artists, actors, writers, poets, musicians, scientists, inventors, and social reformers. His work has helped tens of thousands of people discover their family roots and find their intimate connections to the people and events that have shaped world history.
Chandra Prakash Sharma(Editor's Choice -I Award winner)
Chandra Prakash Sharma (b.1941) worked as Head, Department of Economics at M. M. Modi College, Patiala (1970-01) . He was nominated to the Academic Council, the Board of Faculty and the Board of Studies of Punjabi University, Patiala several times during this period. Presently, he is guest faculty at the Punjab School of Management Studies of the University. Prior to this, He was General Manager of International Medical Devices, Gurgaon, a Company manufacturing ophthalmic devices in India that found its market many countries the world over.
He obtained his first Postgraduate Degree in English from the University of Rajasthan as student of now BITS, Pilani. After working as lecturer in English in a college in Haryana for a couple of years, he took his second Masters Degree in Economics from Punjabi University, Patiala in 1969. and later his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the same University in 1987 under the Faculty Improvement Program of the UGC, India. ..He is also an accomplished poet and writer.
Rajaram Ramachandran(Editor's Choice-II Award winner)
He is a recognized poet for over 40 years and some of my poems areappearing in the poemhunter.com, kavitanjali.com, hangtide.com,ndtv, com etc. I have so far written (1) Ramayan (2) Krishna Leela (3)Mahabharat (4) Holy Bible (5) The story of Saint Bernadette (6) AdiSankara (7) Silappadigaram, the Killer Anklet (8) Manimegalai (9) ABouquet of Oriental Poems (10) The story of Nalan and (11) Sakuntala( writing) . The ex-President of India, ShriAbdul Kalam, Sahitya Akadami, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan have commendedsome of his works as masterpieces.
Kathleen Walker(Editor's Choice-III Award winner)
"Kathleen Walker is a forty-something mom of three terrific kids who has spent the better part of her adult life raising the children and writing fiction and poetry in her spare time. The stories from a very overactive albeit twisted imagination have now come to fruition and are ready for the world to read. Poetry has been read by many all over the world in various poetry forums, publications and contests. Most recently being seen in the March 1 and December 1, 2007 publications of "The Jimston Journal", placed in the top 20 of "The Secret Attic" poetry competition February 1, 2007, featured in the September 10, 2007 issue of "The Cats Meow For Writers And Readers", featured in the maiden issue of "The Far Side Of Midnight" January, 2008, and the upcoming currently in production issue of literarymagic.net.
Biographies of Award Winners for ISSUE-III July 2008
Laurance S Pertillar(Enchanting Poet award winner)
POET, ACTOR, PLAYWRIGHT, PERFORMING ARTIST
POET: Named “One of America’s Most Distinguished Poets” by The International Society of Poets
PERFORMANCE ARTIST:
One man presentation of MindPrints from Untouched Places (Dir by: Maxine Kern-New York City) performed locally at the Hartford Academy Performing Arts, Buttonwood Tree Theater, Middletown, CT… Hartford Downtown Council (First Thursdays) , McDonalds Restaurants (Downtown Htfd Location) , WWUH-FM Radio, Municipal Café (Downtown Htfd) and Club Culturel Franco-Americain, Paris, France (March 15th,16th 2000) …Sponsor-Catherine Aubon,78 Rue Dutot,75015 Paris, (Sept 05) Transformation: Eclectic Fall Out..The Nuyorican Poets'Café..NYC Dir/prdr w/Christine'Nandi'Smith-Sankofa Arts Consortium, Htfd, Ct. founder/dir)
PLAYWRIGHT: The Sons of Snick Snickeeta(Reading) directed by Pat White-The Frank Silvera’s Writer’s Workshop-NYC. The Leonard Melvin Show, performed at the Network in Springfield, Massachusetts…produced by L.S. Pertillar and Ingrid Askew (Johannesburg, South Africa) …dir: Askew/Pertillar, The Music That Plays (Grtr HTFD Cmty Col. now C.C.C.) Htfd, CT 'Halia' co-writer, prod. Capital Cmty College, Tunxis Cmty Coll and The West Indian Social Club-Htfd, Transformation (World premiere) -Christ Church Cathedral, Htfd, CT. Dir. Frances Sharp
ACTOR: Starlight Theater (Kansas CTY, MO) Summer Stock, Hartford Stage Company (various roles Incl.original member of Hartford Stage Company’s Children’s Theater-Paul Weidner, Dir., San Antonio’s Little Theater, Alamo City Theater, San Antonio, Texas…Fort Sam Houston’s Dinner Theater, Carver Cultural Center production of George Wolfe’s Backalley Tales San Antonio, Texas… Dir/prod: George C. Wolfe, Helen Hayes Theater AKA(Little Theater-Ray Aranah's 'My Sister, My sister') The Nuyorican Poets Café-Ishmeal Reed’s Mother Hubbard, New York City…dir: Rome Neal…Garde Arts Center-A Little Death, New London, CT Written by Michael Bradford, Director: Milt Angelopoulos, Hygienic Arts Theater-Willy's Cut and Shine (Sylvester-Reading) New London, Ct.Dir by Playwright Michael Bradford, Fathers and Sons (Benard-Reading) Hygienic Arts Theater, New London, CT-playwright: Michael Bradford. Dir: Daniella Topol. Composer: Taylor Ho Bynum FOUNDER: The Lawrence Pertillar Drama Society…Capital Community College, Hartford, CT
FILM: Several PSA's and Industrial films ...Uconn Health Center-Farmington, CT. 'The Happy Hour', Produced by Mother Grendle's Productions-New York City, New York...Dir.-Branden Dineen (Wrtr, Prdr, Dir) 'A Contemplation of Trees' Dir. Douglas Williams/Stone Wall Films...Ex.prdcr/writer Michael Bradford
HONORS: Cited by the U. S. Senate for “poetic accomplishments and writing achievements” drafted By Vice-Presidential Candidate and US Senator Joseph I. Lieberman-Ct. Artist Seminar: Uconn-Stamford branch...Sponsor-Maryland Grier-Community Research, Hartford 'Invited by Arts organization to speak to other artists about performing/work/creating'
Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYC
Plays/referenced-Frank Silvera's Writers' Workshop,
Awarded 'Poet Fellow' of Noble House Publishers, London, England (October 2006)
Jeff Lee(Editor's Choice-I award winner)
Jeff Lee is a Chinese poet. In the year of 2005, he has entered School of Foreign Languages and Literatures in Beijing Normal University.
Chitra Lele(Editor's Choice-II award winner)
Chitra Lele software engineer in India.She has professional certifications in computer science to my credit. She has always contributed articles and poems (inspirational, spiritual and social in nature) regularly to reputed magazines, newspapers and literary journals. She is a member of reputed poetry societies. Her have been published/will appear soon in coveted journals such as Poets international, Kritya, Conifers Call, MuseIndia, Poets Federation (Canada), Literaryspot (UK) and many more.She has also participated in the several competitions. Her poems have been selected to appear in the silver jubilee anthology of Poets International (Dec 2008), anthology titled The Split Feathers (Nov 08) and in the Poets Federation of Canada (Dec 2008). Also various other journals have accepted her submission. ..
Stella Qish(Editor's Choice-III award winner)
Stella Sisanda Qishi was born just outside the smalltown of East London but grew up in East London. She started writing poetry in 2004 when she was doing her grade 12 at S.K.Mahlangu High. She had to recite poetry in front of the class for an English lecture. She was allowed to adopt other people’s writings. The one she chose was Shabbir Banoobhai’s ‘You Cannot Know The Fears I Have’ and added her own few lines towards the end.She chose it in remembrance of her youngest uncle who died the previous year.She didn’t realize how deep it was until she recited it and ended up crying(which was not part of the plan).She shared this love for poetry with two of her classmates (Mali Yonela and Dangazele Mia). From then she couldn’t stop writing.From the beginning she has edited my own stuff and whenever was not happy with a poem she shove it in her drawer for at least 3 weeks before attempting to edit it again.After she matriculated in 2004 she applied for a bursary at MSC College and completed her Diploma in Computer Software Skills in 2007.She was appointed as Junior Editor of her former high school's newsletter.