John Popielaski is a contemporary poet from Portland, Connecticut

Portland, Connecticut

Portland is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,732 at the 2000 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place . It is situated across the Connecticut River from Middletown....

. To date, he has published two compilations, Contemporary Martyrdom and A Brief Euereka for the Alchemists of Peace. He also teaches English at Xavier High School

Xavier High School (Middletown, Connecticut)

Xavier High School is an all-boys Catholic high school run by the Xaverian Brothers. It is located in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. Young men from over 65 towns surrounding Middletown attend Xavier. Mercy High School is its sister school....

 in Middletown

Middletown, Connecticut

Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...

, Connecticut.

Biography

John Popielaski attended the State University of New York

State University of New York

The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...

 at Stony Brook and American University

American University

American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...

. His profile in the back of Contemporary Martyrdom refers to him as, "an itinerant teacher and seasonal laborer;" he in fact worked several years as a mover, a lobsterman, and assisting a tropical biologist before teaching English in Mississippi, New York City, and now at Xavier High School

Xavier High School (Middletown, Connecticut)

Xavier High School is an all-boys Catholic high school run by the Xaverian Brothers. It is located in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. Young men from over 65 towns surrounding Middletown attend Xavier. Mercy High School is its sister school....

 in Middletown Connecticut. Many of his poems have been published in literary journals, and he has been the recipient of a fellowship from the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Publications

Contemporary Martyrdom was released in May 2002, published by Birch Brook Press of Delhi, NY. It contains thirty-one poems.

A Brief Eureka for the Alchemists of Peace followed in 2005 from Antrim House Books. It contains forty-five poems, divided into four sections. The cover of A Brief Eureka for the Alchemists of Peace displays a photograph by Shaun Walker of activist Julia Butterfly Hill

Julia Butterfly Hill

Julia Butterfly Hill is an American activist and environmentalist. Hill is best known for living in a -tall, roughly 1500-year-old California Redwood tree for 738 days between December 10, 1997 and December 18, 1999...

during her two years living in a Redwood tree to prevent it from being destroyed.