HVWC Published Student Reading with Roxanne Cardona, B. Fulton Jennes, Bonnie LeVar, Linda Puner, Alice Campbell Romano, & Harriet Shenkman (Via Zoom)

Join Susan Hodara & Jennifer Franklin as they welcome their recenlty published hvwcpubstudentstudents to read for the semi-annual HVWC Published Student Reading. Four poets and poets and two prose writers will read from their new work.

Roxanne Cardona was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent. She earned her BA in Theatre Arts and her MS in Education from Hunter College, another MS in Educational Administration from the College of New Rochelle. For many years, she was a principal of a large elementary school in the South Bronx. She lives in Teaneck, New Jersey with her husband, René. Her poem, Luquillo Entre las Nubes, was a finalist in the 2023 Ekphrastic Poetry Prize. Caught in the Principal’s Lens (Pine Row Press, 2024) is her first book. She has studied with Jennifer Franklin at HVWC for almost a decade.

Alice Campbell Romano lived 13 years in Rome, Italy, turning Italian sceneggiature into American movie scripts. She married a dashing Italian; they raised their family in Rome and in Los Angeles where Alice became President of The Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) and worked with independent film and TV producers as well as for Universal Studios. Alice is an active member of The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center in the Hudson Highlands where she grew up amid tall oaks. The Consolation of Geometry (C&R Press, 2024) is her first book. She has studied with Jennifer Franklin at HVWC for almost a decade.

B. Fulton Jennes is an award-winning poet whose work has appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies. In 2022, Jennes’ poem “Glyphs of a Gentle Going” won the Lascaux Prize; another poem, “Father to Son,” won the 2023 New Millennium Award. Her collection Blinded Birds (FLP) received the 2022 International Book Award for a poetry chapbook. Jennes is poet laureate emerita of Ridgefield, CT. She hosts workshops and readings, both online and in person, including the Poetry in the Garden summer series at Keeler Tavern Museum in Ridgefield. She has studied with Jennifer Franklin at HVWC for over four years.

Bonnie Greene LeVar is the author of the memoir The Inventor’s Daughter. She lives in Briarcliff Manor and is a long time student of Susan Hodara at the Hudson Valley Writers Center.

Linda Puner is a college consultant who lives in Westchester. A University of Michigan alumna, Linda has done graduate work at New York University, Boston University, and the Harvard Summer Institute. She is a member of Independent Educational Consultants Association, New York State Association for College Counseling, National Association for College Counseling, and Westchester Putnam Rockland Counseling Association. She is a long-time student of Sudan Hodara at the Hudson Valley Writers Center.

Harriet Shenkman’s full-length collection, Wonderwheel, was published by Grayson Books in 2023. Born in Brooklyn, she is a Professor Emerita at City University of New York. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Women’s National Book Association, NYC where she moderates programs co-sponsored with the NYU Creative Writing Program. She won several poetry awards, including the Women’s National Book Association 2013 Annual Writing Contest in Poetry and the Women Who Write 2013 International Poetry and Short Prose Contest. Her poetry has been published in Evening Street Review, Third Wednesday, Jewish Currents, Jewish Magazine, VerseWrights.com., When Women Awaken, Westchester Review. Oyez Review, The Pink Panther Magazine, The Alexandra Quarterly, The Comstock Review and in the 20th Edition of the Calliope Anthology. A former Poet-in-Residence at BoomerCafe and a current Poet-in-Residence of The Transition Network, she studied with poets Jennifer Franklin, Ellen Bass, and Laura Kasischke. She read her poetry at the Hudson Valley Poetry Center, KGB Bar, Cornelia Street Café, The Arc Poetry and Art Festival, The JCC of Mid Westchester, The Watercooler Hub in Tarrytown, The Scarsdale Library and The Westchester Review Reading at Barnes and Noble. Her first poetry chapbook Teetering was published by Finishing Line Press in 2014. Her second chapbook The Present Abandoned was published by Finishing Line Press, 2020. She is a multi-genre writer and is currently working on a Corona Collection of poetry as well as completing a novel.