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 now devotes herself to poetry. She was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and lives in Pittsburgh. Her poems have been widely published in literary journals and anthologies, including recently in The Atlanta Review, Gyroscope Review, and CALYX Literary Journal. She has new work forthcoming in Constellations, Rune, and Uppagus. Her poem “River at Night” was a winning entry in the 2021 Passager Poetry Competition. She has published two full length books of poetry, Acts of Deference (Fakel 2016) and The Boat-maker’s Art (Kelsay Books 2024.)
Shaheen is a member of the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange, the US1/DVP Poets, and the Porch Poets. She holds a BA from Vassar College, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.
“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) forthcoming from Main Street Rag 2025.
“Twinkies,” forthcoming in Gyroscope Review, Fall/Winter 2-24.
“Merry-Go-Round,” The Meaning of Freedom, Moonstone Arts Center An, Fall 2024.
“The First Art,” forthcoming in Schuylkill Valley Journal, Fall/Winter 2024.
“Letters to My Younger Self: #5 Camels were the first marvel,” and #12, “The Summer was Hot,” forthcoming in 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.