E. Michael Desilets

was born and raised in Framingham, Massachusetts.  He earned his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Columbia University in New York under the guidance of Anthony Burgess and Hortense Calisher.  He taught at Framingham High School, Framingham State College, Rowan University in New Jersey, and the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, where he now lives.  His poetry has appeared in numerous publications, including Blue Collar Review, California Quarterly, Diner, The Rambler, and Widener Review. He was the first winner of both The Boston Herald Poetry Competition and the John M. Corcoran Poetry Prize, sponsored by The Irish Edition of Philadelphia. In Lieu of Hymns, a musical setting of ten of his poems by composer Leo Schwartz, had its premiere at WFMT Studios in Chicago in March of 2010.