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YellowJacket Press was founded by editor, poet and teacher Gianna Russo while she directed the creative writing department at Blake School of the Arts in Tampa. Ms Russo and the Press became independent from Blake in 2007, and the Press is now under the guidance of an advisory board of writers, poets, community leaders and the editor. YJP has become known for publishing superior quality poetry in simple, yet beautiful, individually designed chapbooks. YJP currently publishes two books a year and sponsors readings statewide for its poets. YJP is in the process of becoming a member of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) and a 501c3 non-profit organization. |
About the Editor |
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Poet, writer, and teacher Gianna Russo, has pursued a life-long calling to poetry and writing. A supporter of the literary arts and artists for almost 30 years, she is active in a number of literary endeavors in Tampa and across Florida and currently serves as an Artist-Advisor to the Arts Council of Hillsborough County.
She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, received (twice) a Hillsborough County Artist Fellowship, and received an honorable mention for the Florida Artist Fellowship. She is an Arts Fellow of the Surdna Foundation and of the Hambidge Center for the Arts and Sciences. She has had poems published in The Bloomsbury Review, The Sun, Poet Lore, The MacGuffin, Calyx and Tampa Review, among others. Her non-fiction essays have appeared in the St. Pete Times.
A teacher of creative writing and English for over 20 years, she also was the administrator of the Florida Suncoast Writers Conference and the founding director of the YMCA Writers Voice in Tampa. She created and co-directed the creative writing program at Howard W. Blake School of the Arts in Tampa for almost 10 years. In 2007, she left the school system to become Curator of Education at the Henry B. Plant Museum in Tampa. |
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MISSION: YellowJacket Press supports emerging and established poets in Florida with an annual chapbook contest, chapbook publications, and public readings. YellowJacket Press creates a means for poets to share and promote their work and nurtures a sense of community among poets and audiences across the state. |
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YellowJacket Press Poets
Michael Trammell, Tallahassee Our Keen Blue House, 2008
Robert S. Carr, Orlando Mystery of the Root, 2008
Pamela Hill Epps, Tampa A Last Glance, 2008
Michael Hettich, Miami Shores Many Loves, 2007
Sharon Scholl, Atlantic Beach Message on a Branch, 2007
Susan Lilley, Orlando Night Windows, 2006
Mary Jane Ryals, Tallahassee Music in Arabic, 2006
Gregory Byrd, Clearwater Florida Straits, 2005 |
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YellowJacket Press Advisory Board
Phil F. Deaver, Rollins College Writer in Residence (www.philipfdeaver.com)
Charles Flowers, freelance writer
Nyssa Hanger, Doorstop Productions
Cece Kalemeris Valdez, Kalemeris Construction, (www.kalemeris.com)
Jeff Karon, The Honorable Classroom(www.thehonorableclassroom.com)
Peter Meinke , Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg,FL (www.petermeinke.com)
Becki Sedita, Tampa community |
About YellowJacket Press |
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YellowJacket Press |
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Susan Lilley, 2006 YellowJacket Press Winner |