Michael Wurster is the author of numerous poetry books and a founding member of the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange. His latest book is Even Then, (University of Pittsburgh Press 2019.)
Shaheen Dil is a reformed academic, banker and consultant who writes poetry. She was born in Bangladesh and lives in Pittsburgh. Her poems have been widely published in literary journals and anthologies and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Dil has published three poetry collections: Acts of Deference (Fakel 2016), The Boat-maker’s Art (Kelsay Books 2024), and Letters to My Younger Self (Gyroscope Press March 2025).
Dil is a member of the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange, the Porch Poets, and the US1 Poetry Workshop. She holds a BA from Vassar College, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.
“Ecology,” forthcoming in Chiron Review, Winter 2025.
Letters to My Younger Self, Gyroscope Press, March 2025.
“Little Old Ladies with Silver Hair,” Constellations, Fall/Winter 2024.
“Tryptichon: Three Views of Pittsburgh,” “Aubade,” and “Kennywood Days,” The Gulf Tower Forecasts Rain: Pittsburgh Poems, (edited by Doralee Brooks, City of Asylum Poet Laureate), Main Street Rag 2024.
“Twinkies,” Gyroscope Review, Fall/Winter 2-24.
“Merry-Go-Round,” The Meaning of Freedom, Moonstone Arts Center Anthology, Fall 2024.
“The First Art,” Schuylkill Valley Journal, Fall/Winter 2024.
“Letters to My Younger Self: #5 Camels were the first marvel,” and #12, “The Summer was Hot,” Uppagus, Fall 2024.
“Morning Yoga,” The Pittsburgh Quarterly, Poems Online, July 10th 2024. “The Hudson River Park” and “Union Square,” The City Key, June 2024.
“Letters to My Younger Self: #1: When you were four years, four months, and four days old,” Uppagus, Issue #63 Summer 2024.
Co-editor, The PPE 50th Anniversary Anthology, May 2024.
“Eating a Blood Orange in the Morning,” PPE 50th Anniversary Anthology, May 2024.
“The Gray Address Book,” The Ear, Issue 27, May 2024
“Parallax” and “May,” Shaler North Public Library Facebook website for National Poetry Month, April 2024
“The First Perfect Number,” Rune, April 2024 The Boat-Maker’s Art, Kelsay Books, March 2024
“Renga II,” Gyroscope Review, Spring 2024 Issue (collaborative work with the Porch Poets: Ziggy Edwards, Timons Esaias, Roberta Hatcher, Alyssa Sineni, and Arlene Weiner.
“What I Miss,” Persimmon Tree Short Takes, Spring Issue 2024.
“Tango,” Blue Earth Review, Fall 2023.
“Prayer,” “Lists,” and “Puja,” A Critique of the Gods, 2023.
“Properties of the Number Nineteen,” Vox Populi, October 9, 2023.
“Turning Point,”US1 Worksheets, Issue 68, Fall 2023.
“Wind from the 45th Floor,” Uppagus, August 2023.
“Post Cataracts,” The Orchards Poetry Journal, Summer 2023.
“A Frog of a Railroad to Become a Prince of a Park,” The Ocotillo Review, Volume 7.2., July 2023.
“The Bird of Limitless Flight,” Uppagus, June 2023.
“Dialogue,” The Atlanta Review, Spring/Summer 2023.
“Anamnesis,” Rune, 2023.
“August” and “Aubade” CALYX Journal, Vol. 33, no. 3, winter/spring 2023. “Driving on the PA Turnpike,” Main Street Rag, Spring 2023.
“Chrysolite” and “Dust,” Stripes Literary Magazine, Issue 2, Volume 3, October 2022.
“The Opposite of Telescope,” The Last Stanza Poetry Journal, Issue #10, October 2022.
“Horology,” US1 Worksheets, Issue 67, Fall 2022.
“The Boat-maker’s Art,” Gyroscope Review, Spring 2022.
“Sampsonia at Night,” Masque & Spectacle, March 2022.
“River at Night,” Passager, 2021 Poetry Contest, Honorable Mention.
“The First Snowfall,” Rune, 2021.
“My Mother’s Garden,” The Golden Streetcar, Volume II, Issue I, March/April 2020.
Acts of Deference, Fakel Publishing House, Sofia, 2016.
“The Technology of Breath,” “The Variance of Hours,” Poetry Chain: An Anthology of New Verse, 2005.
“Summer in Southern Germany,” Waiting for You to Speak, 1999. “The Variance of Hours,” The Exchange, 1997.
“Letter to Asha,” “Tryptichon: Three Views of Pittsburgh,” The Critical Quarterly, 1997.
“In the Tiger Balm Garden,” 5AM, 1995.
“The Year of the Phoenix,” The Pittsburgh Quarterly, 1994-95.
“Sojourn,” “Pilgrim,” “The Lapidary’s Art,” “Second Person Singular,” “Ayutthaya,” “Gautama’s Exquisite Head,” “Masnavi,” and “Discovery,” The Journal of South Asian Literature, 1993.
“In the Jungle,” Four Quarters, 1993.