People
Who We Are
Hi, I'm Alex, and I'm the pickling poet. I've been a writer for as long as I can remember, and graduated with my MFA in poetry from Queens College in 2018. Now I teach composition and creative writing at SUNY Suffolk.
That's my wonderful wife Tanya, the brains of the operation. Together, we combine our powers to unite the two disparate worlds of awesome pickles and poignant poetry.
One day, while I was out shopping at a local Key Food, I picked up a jar of your typical dill pickles and thought, "I can do this. I can do it better." So, I decided to add pickler to my long list of interests. Tanya saw me cooking up one of my first batches of pickles and joked: "I could have married a doctor or lawyer. Instead, I married a pickling poet."
And here we are.
Poet of theMonth: Isa Guzman
Isa Guzman is a Nuyorican, Titere poet out of Los Sures, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. His work is dedicated to the exploration of issues surrounding Puerto Rico and its diaspora, to the confrontation and exploration of masculinity, and to the general mood of precarity surrounding the day to day. He is currently pursuing his MFA at Brooklyn college and is working on his first collection of poems. You can read some of his other work in magazines such as The Acentos Review, Somos en escrito, The Castia Grande Lounge, and the anthology The Other Side of Violet (Great Weather for Media). You can also read some of his thoughts on his website, Isawrites.com, and on social media: @Isa_Writes.
June '18: Carla M. Cherry
Carla M. Cherry is an English teacher and writer who holds degrees from Spelman College, New York University, and Lehman College of the City University of New York. She has published three books of poetry through Wasteland Press: Gnat Feathers and Butterfly Wings (2008), Thirty Dollars and a Bowl of Soup (2017), and Honeysuckle Me (2017). Her poems have appeared in the following online and print publications: Anderbo, Obscura, Eunoia Review, Dissident Voice, Random Sample Review, MemoryHouse Magazine, Bop Dead City, Down in the Dirt, In Between Hangovers, Firefly Magazine, Picaroon Poetry, Streetlight Press, Ariel Chart,Wallpaper Magazine, and upcoming issues of HerStory and Black Noise Quarterly. Two of her poems were included in recent anthologies, Raising Her Voice: An Anthology of Women Writers compiled by the Same, a literary journal for women, and Waterlogged, which was produced by Down in the Dirt’s Scars Publications. Her micro-story “Homegoing” was awarded an honorable mention in Zathom.com’s March 2018 writing competition.
Carla’s website: https://www.carlacherrybxpoet1.com/
Carla’s Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/carlacherry
Carla’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbutterfy18/
Carla’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/carla_bronxpoet
Carla’s interview with the Same: https://thesame.blog/2018/01/01/issue-5-1-interview/
May '18: Valentina Cano
Valentina Cano is a student of classical singing who spends whatever free time she has either reading or writing. Her works have appeared in numerous publications and her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Web. Her debut novel, The Rose Master, was published in 2014 and was called a "strong and satisfying effort" by Publishers Weekly.
April '18: Gerry Fabian
R. Gerry Fabian is a retired English instructor. He has been publishing poetry since 1972 in various poetry magazines. His web page is https://rgerryfabian.wordpress.com He is the editor of Raw Dog Press https://rawdogpress.wordpress.com His novels, Memphis Masquerade, Getting Lucky (The Story) and published poetry book, Parallels are available at Smashwords and all other ebook stores. Seventh Sense, his third novel has been published by Smashwords. He is currently working on his second book of published poems.
March '18: Senia Hardwick
Senia Hardwick is an MFA candidate at Queens College. They are the author of four zines: Sexts? Volume 1 & 2, FUTURES, and down in the fuck cave, and have been published in several print and online journals including Necronomicum, Tattoosday, and Hoax. Their general topics of academic interest include medieval studies, classics, political theory, spectrality, Marxist theory, deconstruction, aesthetics, and queer theory. However, as of spring 2018, they are mostly reading about the aesthetics of spectrality and revenge, and the queering and decolonizing of leftist theory. They have previously volunteered at Bluestockings, a feminist all volunteered powered bookstore, and are an active participant in fandom culture. Their website is www.seniahardwick.wordpress.com and their IG is necro.pharmakon.