Events

 Rebecca Ellis and gaye gambell-peterson will read poetry, showcase books and art on thenight of the full moon, Wednesday,December 2, 2009.  RebeccaEllis will read her own work and from the various chapbooks in the MidwestWomen Poets Series from Cherry Pie Press. gaye gambell-peterson will read from two recently published chapbooks,and provide a peek at original artwork used as illustrations.

Rebecca Ellis lives in southern Illinois.  She has poems published in So to Speak, Natural Bridge, qarrtsiluni.com,Quiddity, RHINO, and Sweet (sweetlit.com).  Recently, she won first place in a 48-hourpoem-writing contest by Contemporary Verse 2.  Through Cherry Pie Press, she edits andpublishes poetry chapbooks by midwestern women poets.  She also writes reviews of poetry chapbooksby other small presses.

Cherry Pie Press is anindependent press that has produced nine chapbooks.  It began five years ago, fueled in part bythe work of the women’s poetry collective LooselyIdentified to produce an anthology of their work, andfrom discussions with women writers about the relative absence of women makingeditorial decisions about local poetry. Cherry Pie Press is a venue for both new and well-published womenwriters, with the goal of increasing the audience for their work andencouraging more women writers to showcase their poetry.

gaye gambell-peterson is a degreed visual artist and self-taughtpoet.  Two chapbooks were published in2009, both featuring her poems and her collages.
Cherry Pie Press published pale leaf  floating, the most recent chapbook in its Midwest Women PoetsSeries.  Her own imprint, Agog Press, hasjust released
MYnd mAp.

Her art has been juriedinto national art shows, and has graced covers for several literarypublications.  Her poems have beenawarded in contests sponsored by
St. Louis Poetry Center,St. Louis Writers Guild, and Cherry Pie Press. Poems have appeared in Mid Rivers Review (art, too) and UntamedInk.  Her poetry and cover art werepart of Loosely Identified’santhology: Breathing Out.

Agog Press serves twopurposes.  Established in memory ofgaye’s mother (A grand
ole girlwho always believed a book was possible), the press is unique because a
full-color illustration companions each and every poem.