Harriet Shenkman
Current City, State, Country
Birth City, State, Country
Biography
Harriet Shenkman earned a Ph.D. from Fordham University. She is a professor emerita at Bronx Community College, City University of New York. She holds an M.Ed. from Duke University. Her poetry awards include the Women’s National Book Association Annual Writing Contest in Poetry and the Women Who Write International Poetry and Short Prose Contest. Her poetry appeared in Union, the Raynes Poetry Competition Anthology, Evening Street Review, Third Wednesday, Jewish Currents, Jewish Magazine, Westchester Review, Oyez Review, The Alexandria Quarterly, Comstock Review, The Berru Poetry Series, and elsewhere. Her two poetry chapbooks, Teetering (2014) and The Present Abandoned (2020), were published by Finishing Line Press. Her new poetry collection, Wonder Wheel, is published by Grayson Books, Oct. 2023. She is a first generation American born and raised in Brooklyn.
What is the relationship between Judaism and/or Jewish culture and your poetry?
I was born into a culturally Jewish family and that has determined who I am. My Brooklyn upbringing is distinctly Jewish. My poetry is in my voice, which I believe is distinctly Jewish. In addition, my themes include silences about the Holocaust, antisemitism, and family lost in Eastern Europe. A sense of humor is also important in my poetry.
Published Works
Wonder Wheel (Grayson Books, 2023)
The Present Abandoned (chapbook; Finishing Line Press, 2020)
Teetering (chapbook; Finishing Line Press, 2014)
Links to Sample Works
Current Title
Education
Brooklyn College, B.A.
Duke University, M.Ed.
Fordham University, Ph.D.