Leigh Harrison's
Literary Bio and Awards
Click thumbnails for more information about her poetry books,
as well as sample poems and audio samples.
* * *
LITERARY AWARDS
Teghrerian Prize (1st Prize $250.00 in Poetry) / awarded by York College, May 1995
(1st year of award)
Teghrerian Prize (1st Prize $250.00 in Prose) / awarded by York College, May 1995
(1st year of award)
World Congress of Poets for Poetry Research and Recitation (honoree)
(December 2004)
"Folding Into White" published in Stars In Out Hearts (August 2011)
won the Editor's Choice Award (and Semi-Finalist for top prize )
In April, 2022, awarded a Special Prize for Poetic Technique by the Acton Library in
Old Saybrook, CT for her poems "Invocation: To Teknia" and "Aurora."
She has also appeared at numerous poetry readings, in many as a featured performer; a list of those venues appears below, along with some of the literary awards she has received.
Leigh's book reviews and essays have appeared in numerous magazines including "American Book Review," "Medicinal Purposes Literary Review," "On The Bus," and "Home Planet News" (online) ... She has taught poetry, writing, and short story classes at Queens College (CUNY), York College (CUNY), and at Long Island Business Institute, and taught poetry and songwriting for the NYC school system..
She is the creator of the Harrisonian sonnet, and the Pentina (a variation on the sestina); there is an article on Wikipedia about the Pentina. The Pentina is also included in "The Book of Forms / A Handbook of Poetics Including Odd and Invented Forms" (published 2012), by Lewis Turco. She has also been a guest-host of the cable TV show, Poet To Poet (with Robert Dunn), now archived and available on YouTube.
Ms. Harrison is the author of several poetry collections, of which four have already been published: "Tour de Farce" (New Spirit Press: Kew Gardens, NY, 1996) a chapbook of humor and parody, "Our Harps Upon the Willows" (Cross-Cultural Literary Editions: Merrick, NY, 1999) a collection of poems about spiritual faith and doubt, and "Finding Sermons in Stones," (WordCrew.org: New York, 2011) a collection of poems about nature and the four seasons. Her latest collection, "From A to Zeus," (WordCrew: New York, 2020) offers a selection of her poetry with biblical or mythological themes. Click the thumbnail for the books above to read sample poems, and hear audio versions, or to order "From A to Zeus" on Amazon.
As a poet, Leigh has been widely published, and has worked on the staff of numerous literary magazines, such as "Impact" and "et cetera" (the official and unofficial anthologies printed by students when she attended Fairleigh Dickinson University), "Poems That Thump in the Dark," "Second Glance," "Asbestos Arts Journal." "Shabdagucha," and "Medicinal Purposes Literary Review."