Ralph Pennel

Poet

Upstate , NY
New York US
Email: 
y.ralph@gmail.com
Website: 
ralphpennel.com

Author's Bio

Ralph Pennel is the author of A World Less Perfect for Dying In, published by Cervena Barva Press. Ralph’s writing has appeared in The Iowa Review, Ocean State Reveiw, South Dakota Review, Inverted Syntax, The Worcester Review, Elm Leaves Journal, F(r)iction, Watershed Review, Tarpaulin Sky, Rain Taxi Review of Books and various other journals. Ralph is a founding editor, fiction editor, and Editor-in-Chief for the online literary journal, Midway Journal (https://midwayjournal.com/), and he is a former board member of the New England Poetry Club. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart, a Best of the Net Award, the Best Small Fictions Anthology, and he was twice a finalist for Somerville Poet Laureate. 

Writers Retreats: 
Cape Cod Writers Center Conference
Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference
Taos Writers Conference

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
Open to Interpretation (Taylor & O'Neill, 2014)
,
Open to Interpretation (Taylor & O'Neill, 2012)
,
Monologues from the Road (Heinemann Books, 1999)
Book:
A World Less Perfect for Dying In (Cervena Barva Press, 2015)
Journals:
Apercus
,
Cape Rock
,
Coffin Bell
,
Common Ground Review
,
F(r)iction
,
Fatal Flaw
,
Ibbetson Street Press
,
Inverted Syntax
,
Iowa Review
,
Literary Orphans
,
Ocean State Review
,
Rain Taxi
,
Reality Beach
,
Right Hand Pointing
,
ROPES
,
Sleet Magazine
,
South Dakota Review
,
Stone Canoe
,
The Four Quarters Magazine
,
The Smoking Poet
,
Thrice Fiction
,
Unbound Press
,
Waterhouse Review
,
Watershed Review
,
Waxing & Waning: A Literary Journal
,
Wilderness House Literary Review
Prizes won: 

Nominated for a Pushcart Prize, 2023; Awarded MLA Professional Development Grant, 2023; Selected as Finalist, Flume Press Chapbook Contest, 2022: Nominated for a Best of the Net Award 2021; Semi-finalist, Digging Press Chapbook Contest, 2020; Nominated for Best Small Fiction Anthology, 2019; Innovation in Teaching Award, Bentley University, 2019; Nominated for a Pushcart, 2018; Finalist for Poet Laureate of Somerville, 2017; Nominated for a Pushcart Prize, 2015; Finalist for Poet Laureate of Somerville, 2014; Poet of the Moment, MassPoetry.org, 2013; Teacher of the Year, Globe University/Minnesota School of Business, 2008; First Place for Poetry, Kamelian, 1994; Honorable Mention, Davenport Poetry Contest, 1993.

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
European American
Prefers to work with: 
Adults
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Manhattan , KS
Kansas
Raised in: 
De Kalb, IL
Illinois
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Oct 23, 2025