Robert Savino's recent book, Inside a Turtle Shell is a diverse journey of paths crossed, family and friends . . . lost and found. The poet’s focus is to capture the everyday experience driven by the passion of his Italian cultural upbringing.

    Of his new collection, George Wallace, First Poet Laureate of Suffolk County writes, "It is an embarrassment of riches. Whoever reaches into its pages will find generous and jumbled treasure." From poems like "Absolute Truth" to "tree house" to "Green Turtle Sandbox" this collection lives up to that reputation.
    Savino is a native Long Island poet and retired businessman.  His poems have been published in many journals including the Long Island Quarterly and the Haight Asbury Literary Journal. He was a long-standing Board Member of Island Poets, winner of the Lake Ronkonkoma Historical Society’s 15th Annual Poetry Competition (2005) and the winner of the 2008 Oberon Poetry Prize, for “Breakfast with Sophia” . . . the endearing relationship between a grandfather and his four-year-old granddaughter. See him on YouTube

    Colleen Michaels: Was a 2010 finalist for the Split This Rock Poetry Competition and is the recipient of an Honorable Mention in the 2011 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize.
    Michaels directs the Writing Center at Montserrat College of Art.  She has performed at venues such as the Bowery Poetry Club and the Salem Literary Festival, but she usually can be found bringing poetry to unlikely places like tattoo parlors, laundromats, and swimming pools.  Yes, in the swimming pool.
    Her poems and essays have appeared in print and in on–line literary journals, including The Paterson Literary Review, Blue Collar Review, The Mom Egg, Bread and Circus Magazine, Literary Mama, and the forthcoming anthology, Here Come the Brides!: Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage. Her poem “Align” appears as an art installation at Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
    She lives north of Boston, Massachusetts with her husband and daughter, helps organize the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, and is a cheerleader for community and poetry.Visit http://www.montserrat.edu/blog/category/improbable-places-poetry-tour/ 
    The reading takes place Saturday, March 10, 2011, 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., at the Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, (212-989-9319). The evening starts with Open Mic readings of five minutes each. Since 1991, the organization has given voice to writers through its Open Reading series at Cornelia St. Café every month. For membership information, visit www.iawa.net