Judy (J R) Turek Poet-in-Residence Bio

J R (Judy) Turek, Walt Whitman Birthplace 2019 Long Island Poet of the Year, Superintendent of Poetry for the LI Fair, 2020 Hometown Hero by the East Meadow Herald, Bards Laureate 2013-2015, is an internationally published poet, translated into Korean, Romanian, French, and Italian; editor, workshop leader, and 27 years as Moderator of the Farmingdale Creative Writing Group; she has 2 Pushcart Prize nominations and recipient of the Conklin Prize For Poetry. She was named a 2017 NYS Woman of Distinction.  She is the author of 24 in 24, Midnight on the Eve of Never, B is for Betwixt and Between, A is for Almost Anything, Imagistics, and They Come And They Go.  Her most recent book, DogSpeak, supported North Shore Animal League, the world's largest no-kill animal shelter organization with a donation of $500.For many years she has been a key organizational force in regional poetry.  She hosts two/three events per month for Performance Poets Association (PPA); she’s the 1st Associate Editor for The North Sea Poetry Scene, PPA, and The Bards Initiative; she was the face of Princess Ronkonkoma Productions for 16 years. 2023 is her 20th consecutive year writing at least a poem a day, finishing the year with 487 new poems.  J R, The Purple Poet, lives on Long Island with her soul-mate husband, Paul, her dogs, and her extraordinarily extensive shoe collection.