"Poetry at Work, Poetry at Play"--Featuring Iris Arenson-Fuller and Steve Olechna. Iris Arenson-Fuller has been a poet/writer almost her entire life. She was presented with a poetry award by Langston Hughes a few years before his death and promised him that she would never stop writing. She kept her promise to Mr. Hughes and continued to write. Iris is also a Life and Loss Transformation/Life Reinvention Coach. She is a parent by birth and adoption and a grandmother. Her poetry has appeared in Storybleed Magazine, Esme, Compass Magazine, Omen: a Feminist Anthology, Jewish Literary Journal, and many others. She has written many articles for a variety of adoption-related and professional coaching magazines, and on-line publications, including Felicity Huffman’s “What the Flicka.” Her poetry will soon be appearing in Scottie Tails Magazine.

Steve Olechna incorporates performance art and storytelling into his poetry. His signature poem, Juggling Four Kids, is performed while juggling four balls. His Poetry in Motion presentation is popular with elementary schools and senior groups. He has published anthologies for these groups and also served as editor and publisher of the Faxon Poets Perspectives I - XI annual anthologies. He is president and owner of Supertivity®, LLC., a start-up side business focused on publishing, brand entertainment and promotion, and creative risk management. He has published sci-fi and superhero comic books, had his risk management sculptures displayed at DaDa art exhibits in Hartford, performed as a game show host for his customized Match Game gameshow and performed as an Elvis impersonator at Hartford’s Infinity Hall (search on “Elvis Olechna” on YouTube).