Helen Ruggieri
Helen Ruggieri grew up in a series of small towns in New York and Pennsylvania, graduating from Penn State University and continuing her studies at St Bonaventure University. She published her first poem in the English Journal and since has had over 200 poems in magazines and anthologies.
With her late husband Ford she edited a little magazine (Uroboros) for five years receiving grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Between writing poems and teaching she has birthed three children and raised two dogs, and attempted to keep her 100-year-old house from disintegrating.
She is a master gardener and has a black sash in tai chi.
Since retiring she has led workshops for the Mental Health Association, the African American Center for Cultural Development and organized reading series in bars, libraries, furniture stores and just about any underutilized spaces in the area. The TriCounty Arts Council selected her for a lifetime achievement award.
By Helen Ruggieri
Blue Elegies
By Helen Ruggieri
paperback | 5.5 X 8.5 | 124 pages | October, 2024
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swallows capering
in the purple twilight—
the life
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"An avian ode that migrates and mitigates through a lifetime of experiences. It is a moving tribute to a life well-lived, all its hopes and heartache. The careful observation and attention of our winged
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neighbors provides a thought-provoking metaphor for the cycle of life giving the reader a personal bird’s-eye view from the poet’s perspective."
—TAK Erzinger, poet winner of the University of Indianapolis
2021Whirling Prize
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