Bio
In 1983, Marylisa W. DeDomenicis wrote and managed distribution of advertising and promotional materials for the Liverpool Basketball Association in Liverpool, England. After returning to her hometown in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania she directed staged poetry readings for the city's Fine Arts Fiesta as Secretary of the Wilkes-Barre Poetry Society. In 1986 she moved to Southern New Jersey where she studied poetry writing at Stockton State College and pursued her humanities degree. After undergoing brain surgery in 1992, the poet focused on her writing and assisted in the production and distribution of The Coastal Forest Review, published by the writer’s group, AfterImage, for which she also edited poetry.
Her chapbook, ALMOST ALL RED, won the Still Waters Press 1997 Woman’s Words Poetry Chapbook Competition and was nominated by Stephen Dunn for a Pushcart Prize. A finalist in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards, her work has appeared in HEAL YOUR SOUL, HEAL THE WORLD, (Andrews McMeel), LOOKING FOR GOD IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES (Loyola Press), as well as The Paterson Literary Review, Stockpot, Calliope, Rewrites, Black Bear Review, Black River Review, Alpha Beat Press, Standing Wave, A New Song, Mudfish, Confluence, The Carriage House Review and the on-line journals WiredArts, JerseyWorks, and Atomic Petals. Her work can also be found on her website, www.notherpoet.com. Next fall, one of her poems is scheduled to be published by Sourcebooks, Inc as part of the calendar “2006 Everyday Blessings: 365 Days of Inspiration, Comfort, and Gratitude” (print run 10,000!).
In addition to sponsoring and hosting workshops, producing a series of summer readings and art exhibits and curating a staged poetry reading accompanied by a one act play (as secretary of the Afterimage group), Marylisa has presented poetry writing workshops to children and to adults in libraries, schools, a nature refuge, and for a senior citizen’s activities club. She has also produced and hosted, along with the editor of Jerseyworks.com, a series of readings which took place approximately ten miles from Atlantic City at Deli on the Square in Pleasantville, New Jersey.
Marylisa is a member of the New Jersey Poetry Society and the Federation of State Poetry Societies, and in keeping with the oral tradition of the spoken word, she presents her poems to both large and small listening audiences. Her most recent reading, sponsored by the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission, took place at the Hopkins House in Haddon Township, New Jersey. Other readings include The Visiting Writer’s Series at Stockton State College in Pomona, The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson (funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and presented by the Distinguished Poets Series), The Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, The Noyes Museum in Oceanville, Borders Books in Hamilton Township, and Atlantic City’s Atlantic Cape Community College campus. She has performed her poetry in both open and closed venues, including the Gazebo at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, various coffee shops, schools, libraries, museums, parks, delicatessens, theaters, book stores, and poetry and art centers.
She has worked for the casino and the food industries, both front and back of house, as well as for a slot machine company. She has also worked in the health care system as a certified home health care aid attending to people with various illnesses and physical and cognitive disabilities, including bed-bound oxygen-machine-dependent patients and those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She has taught in both the secular and non-secular school systems. She doesn't take much for granted and loves people.
Marylisa W. DeDomenicis © 2004
