Michael Alpiner

     I was born in New York City, and currently live in Richmond Hill, NY (Which is in Queens).  I always enjoyed writing, but it was not until I studied it in college with poet Marie Ponsot that I realized my talents and interests in poetry. I began writing about my family history, and the tragic events in the small Eastern-European town of David-Horodok before and during WWII.  The manuscript evolved to include my own branch of that family tree, and how survival and hope for the future lives within us and our children.  

     My oldest daughters, Anna and Lea, became the subjects of my chapbook length manuscript, "Carousel."  It paints a picture of fatherhood, and the challenges involved in being a divorced dad.  It contains themes of love, parenting, and loss.  Through the era of divorce, I was also stricken with Hodgkin's Disease, but through the efforts of doctors and caregivers, as well as my own stubborn desire to live exhuberantly, my battle with the disease was successful.  

     Between 2003 and 2010, I completed a Masters in Education at Hofstra University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens College.  My thesis centered around my battle with Hodgkin's Disease, and was inspired by Sharon Olds' book, The Father.  My manuscript, which is still being developed and enlarged, is entitled Flying on the Edge.  It is a chronological journey through my illness and treatment, interspersed with poems that display the spiritual quality of birds, especially those who one might choose as one's personal "totem." 

     I am currently working on a manuscript that is tentatively entitled My Father out to Sea, which will be in honor of my father who left us in January 2014 after a swift and futile battle with Altzheimer's Disease.  I am also currently working on a young adult, sci-fi dystopian novel.