Leyna Figliozzi is a part-time student in the Creative Fiction Writing MFA program at Hofstra University. She is also a full-time teacher who received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Boston College in 2009 and 2010. She currently works at a high school in Fresh Meadows, New York. When she isn't grading papers or writing them, Leyna loves traveling, spending time at long dinners with her large family and close friends, eating copious amounts of ice cream with her boyfriend, and trying to keep up with her crazy dog, Miles. She believes that life is meant to be lived and not just endured. This is probably why she still has close to 56,000 unread emails. She enjoys sitting on her porch writing and listening to the ocean waves crashing right behind the boardwalk that is less than a block away from her house. Leyna finds inspiration from the daily things in life that sometimes get overlooked, which is why she feels a connection to Stephen Dunn's poetry. She hopes you enjoy this site!
Jen and Mickey
Jen and family at the Grand Caynon
Jennifer Southard is a part-time student in the English Literature MA Program at Hofstra University. Jennifer received her Masters in English Education from Hofstra University in 2015. She is an adjunct professor at Nassau Community College and has taught English Language Arts at the secondary level. Jen has three beautiful children, a patient husband, and a crazy dog. Although she doesn't get to do it as often as she would like, Jen enjoys reading everything and anything. She also loves weekend dinners with her family, taking her dog for long walks by the water, running to heal her mind and body, and sitting with her feet up and a hot cup of coffee Jen finds Stephen Dunn's poetry both interesting and inspiring because of its ability to expose the things we all like to hide.