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 RecordNikhil 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 by poemhunter website. 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)
He received scholarship to Oxford University
to study Anglo-Saxon and English Literature; He wrote a small book on Barbara
Hepworth,1963; He was a art critic for national newspapers and magazines 20
years in U.K.; Michael presented to Queen Mother for services to Canadian art
and to Rajeev Gandhi for services to Indian art;He was a 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 now translated into Dutch; political satirist for website,
'Call Me Tony';He is also the proofreader for forthcoming 18-volume
Encyclopaedia of Hindu Philosophy and has written various essays on 50 years of
Zimbabwean sculpture; historical context essay for 'Gardens of Philosophy:
Ficino on Plato' by Arthur Farndell, Shepherd-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 by
Poemhunter.
David Taylor(Editor's Choice-II Award winner)
David Taylor is the Director of Patronica Ltd United Kingdom. David is a very versatile and accomplished yet humble poet. He is rated among the top 500 poets of the world by poemhunter.
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
commended some 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)
Long before establishing himself as "One of America's Most Distinguished Poets" And achieving accolades from Noble House in London as well The International Society of Poets, for many years Lawrence has been an accomplished vocalist, playwrite, actor And performing artist! Appearing at such famed venues as the Bushnell Performing Arts Center (then known as the Bushnell Memorial) as a child performer with the Phyllis Stone School of Dance and 'Aida' in Hartford, Connecticut! Becoming affiliated with Actor's Equity through Starlight Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. The Hartford Stage Company (many productions), starring in several productions in San Antonio, Texas at Fort Sam Houston, Carver Cultural Center (Geroge Wolfe's Back Alley Tales), The Little Theatre (Ain't MisBehavin'), Alamo City Theatre (Lt. Davenport-Soldier's Story)... Broadway (New York City) at the Helen Hayes Theatre (The Little Theatre) in production of My Sister, My Sister and invited performing artist by Club Culturel Franco-Américain-Paris, France. Lawrence has also appeared at the famous Nuyorican Poets' Café with his Transformation: Eclectic Fall Out.
July 6th 1993, Lawrence was cited by The United States Senate through Joseph I. Lieberman, "I am pleased to offer my most heartfelt congratulations to you upon your designation as one of America's Most Distinguished Poets and your impending induction into the International society of Poets. Once again, please accept my sincere congratulations on your most laudable achievement." The Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York City in conjunction with The Frank Silvera's Writers' Workshop, has several of Lawrence's plays documented.
Lawrence served in the military, active service with the United States Air force! Graduate of Capital Community College aka Greater Hartford Community College where he founded the Lawrence Pertillar Drama Society, attended the University of Hartford where he appeared in several productions including Lennox Brown's famed Winti Train (premier), as one of founding organizers of Organization of Concerned Youth of Greater Hartford responsible for having Ozzie Davis' film Kongi's Harvest premier at the Hartford's Strand Theater 'several years ago! Also, Lawrence had his play, The Sons of Snick Snickeeta premiere as a reading at The Frank Silvera's Writers' Workshop in Harlem, New York City.
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.
Biographies of Award Winners for ISSUE-IV October 2008
Dimitris P Kraniotis(The Enchanting Poet Award
Winner)
Dimitris P. Kraniotis is an award-winning Greek poet. He was born in 1966 in Stomio, a coastal town in central Greece. He studied at the Medical School of the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. He lives and works as a Medical Doctor (Internal Medicine Specialist) in Larissa, Greece. He is the author of 4 poetry books: "Traces" (poems in Greek, Larissa, Greece 1985), "Clay Faces" (poems in Greek, Larissa, Greece, 1992 ), "Fictitious Line" (poems in Greek and translated into English and French, Larissa, Greece 2005) & "Dunes" (poems translated into French and Romanian, Bucharest, Romania 2007). He is Founder & President of the World Poets Society (W.P.S), Vice-President of the Larissa Medical Association "Hippocrates", Doctor of Literature (Litt. D.) by the World Academy of Arts and Culture (WAAC), Academician of the International Academy of Micenei (Italy), President of 22nd World Congress of Poets (Greece 2011) by United Poets Laureate International (UPLI), Ambassador of Poetas del Mundo to Greece, Ambassador of the Associacion of Writers and Artists of the Orb - ASEADLO to Greece, Universal Peace Ambassador by the Universal Ambassador Peace Circle & the Universal Peace Embassy (Switzerland), Board Member of the Global Harmony Association (Russia), Responsible of the Red Mundial de Escritores en Espanol (REMES) to Greece, Poetry Ambassador (by the National Poetry Month Committee, USA), Love Ambassador (by the Love Foundation, USA), Editorial Director of the Greek medical magazine "Hippocrates", President of the Economic and Social Council of the Prefecture of Larissa, member of the Board of Directors of the Cultural Organization of the Larissa Prefecture (Responsible for Literature), member of the Editorial Board of the Greek literary magazine "Graphi" of the Cultural Organization of the Larissa Municipality, Editor of the magazine "World Poet" and member of several literary organizations (Hellenic Literary Society, National Society of Greek Literary Writers, International Society of Greek Writers, Greek PEN Club, Hellenic Society of Writing Physicians, World Academy of Arts & Culture, United Poets Laureate International, International Writers & Artists Association (IWA), World Union of Writing Physicians (UMEM), Academy of American Poets, Poetry Society of America, etc). He has won many awards for his poetry which has been translated and published in many countries.
Suraj Samtani(Editor's Choice-I Award Winner)
Born and brought up in Hong Kong, Suraj started writing since aged 15. He has been awarded the Hong Kong Budding Poets (English) Award from the Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau, and has achieved acclaims from recognized poets. Currently aged 19, he is undertaking a BBA Bachelors Degree at the recognized Business School of HKUST.
Satish Verma(Editor's Coice-II award winner)
Satish Verma was teaching Botany. In 1957 he started a literary journal called Lahar (The Wave...) which became a success. In the early 60's he translated the classic works of Rabindranath Tagore like Balaka, Jyoti-Kanikain and Manimal into Hindi. He published books of poems Prayaas and 1974 and Other Poems. In 1980 his first collection of English poems called Inward Journey was published. In 1980 he started a social project of Holistic therapies called Sewa Mandir which in due course of time has grown in stature. Due to his involvement in Sewa Mandir, he could not devote time for writing for about 25 years. He has once again started writing poetry and his work of the last two years was published as Beyond and Betwēon & launched by leading poet of India Jayanta Mahapatra. His third collection of new collected poems VIA & V/S is in press. Few Anthologies in USA contain his poems some international awards here & these. He is Patron of A.R.A.W.LII…. (Academy of 'raite*(S) And World Literati). Presently he lives in Ajmer, India .
Mohan Chandra Mehrotra(Editor's Choice -III
Award Winner)
