"At a time when the confessional mode has banished American poetry to one vast self-mirroring island, the work of Jeanne Powell nudges us again and again to break out of our little selves. Whether celebrating the triumphs of Australia's champion Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman, berating a hellish vacation in the Sierra Foothills, disclosing the subtle and not so subtle pain of social injustice, or commemorating a powerful, dancing mother reared in the big band swing era, Powell rocks. Unfailingly, the open-hearted spirit of her prose and poetry allows us to re-experience our membership in one another." ­ ­- Al Young, California Poet Laureate Emeritus Jeanne Powell has earned degrees from WSU in Detroit and USF in San Francisco. She writes prose poems, flash fiction and short stage plays. Her previous books are MY OWN SILENCE and WORD DANCING, both published in second editions by Taurean Horn Press in 2013/2014. For ten years Jeanne hosted an acclaimed spoken word series, "Celebration of the Word." She is the inspiration behind Meridien PressWorks¿ which has published 20 authors since 1996. She has been an instructor in the CS, OLLI and UB programs in California.