| Eileen Albrizio | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 |
| Occupation | Writer |
Eileen Albrizio (born 1963) is an American writer of poetry and prose, a professional proofreader and editor [1], and a former broadcast journalist. She was born in Hartford, CT where she still resides. Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary publications including the Common Ground Review and the Underwood Review. She is the author of three print volumes of poetry: Messy on the Inside, Rain – Dark as Water in Winter, and Perennials: New & Selected Poems, all published by Ye Olde Font Shoppe Press.[1] Perennials was nominated for the 2008 Connecticut Book Award. On the Edge, a recitation of her poetry on compact disk was produced with the help of a 2003 Poetry Fellowship from the Greater Hartford Arts Council.[2] She has also penned several plays, three novels, numerous short stories and essays, and ghostwritten several projects. She is a 2008 recipient of the New Boston Fund Individual Artist Fellowship. Albrizio has taught poetry and creative writing in several colleges and cultural institutions as well as the York Correctional Institute, Connecticut’s only maximum-security prison for women.
In 2005, Albrizio left a twelve-year career as a radio news host and broadcast journalist. Nine of those twelve years were spent working for National Public Radio and its Connecticut affiliate, WNPR in Hartford, CT. During her broadcasting career, her newscasts, spot news stories and featured stories were repeatedly awarded first-prize honors from the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Albrizio graduated from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting and then went on to earn her BFA in Theatre from Central Connecticut State University as well as her Masters of Arts in English from the same University. In addition to writing and teaching, Albrizio assists her husband, Wayne Horgan, who is a Realtor in Connecticut. The two have owned and operated Heroes & Hitters,[3] a comic book store in Rocky Hill, CT, since 1989.
Messy on the Inside was published in 1998. Albrizio's first book of poetry, it consists of 60 poems written entirely in formal verse. Utilizing such traditional forms as the English sonnet, pantoum, villanelle, sestina and haiku, this book spotlights Albrizio's ability to master form without losing the poem's accessibility. From the success of this book, Albrizio created an acclaimed formal verse workshop.[4]
Rain – Dark as Water in Winter was published in 2001. This book consists of a one-act play written in verse and 30 poems written in traditional forms. The play, Rain, was honored by the Writer’s Digest[5] as one of the best written one-act plays of 1997. The two-character play focuses on the cycle of an emotionally abusive relationship between Rain and her lover, Perfidy. The play has a profound iambic rhythm, while the rhyme, although consistently placed, is only subtly heard.
Perennials: New & Selected Poems marks Albrizio’s break from traditional forms. It was published in 2007. Although it includes some of her most well received poems from her previous two books, it also consists of over 30 new poems that are largely written in free verse or in forms of her own creation. She continues to teach poetry workshops, but has since added a segment on applying the rhetorical devices used in formal verse to free-verse writing. The Greater Hartford Arts Council and the New Boston Fund have honored with excellence several free-verse poems that were later included in the first chapter of this book.