INTERVIEW WITH JO-ANN VEGA AUTHOR “WOLF WOMAN & OTHER POEMS”
“...Wolf W narrative Flight ...”
and In Remembrance. Awaken, a poem, is scheduled to appear in Wild Librarian Press’ Anthology [2023].
Jo-Ann Vega lives with her life partner and canine companion.
J o-Ann Vega is a published author and dynamic speaker with 30 years of ex- perience designing, presenting, and eval- uating learning programs for academic, business, and community groups. She has twenty years of experience as an adjunct, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses on management and leadership. She wrote a column on career manage- ment for EEO Bimonthly, a national mag- azine, for five years. She is the author of Navigating the New Job Market; and co- author of Workforce 2000: A Challenge for Business & Education. She has 10 years of experience delivering ancestry and history programs as part of a University Lifelong Learning Institute and to community members. She incorpo- rated what she learned about history and the Italian character into her memoir. She inaugurated a Celebrating Italian Ameri- cans Series program at a local library two years ago. Recent publications include Wolf Woman & Other Poems [2022]; Moments in Flight: A Memoir [2021]. Lifewriting essays, Ser- endipity, and Empathy in the Time of Covid [Volume 21 and Volume 22 of Story Circle Network’s Annual Real Women Write An- thology, 2021-2022]. Several poems pub- lished: Musings, Then & Now, Awaken,
What is Wolf Woman & Other Poems about? AWolf Woman is a poetic memoir; a curated collection of 50 poems I’ve written over 50 years of my life journey, organized by life stage. An educator and lifelong learner, I included a preview of each section to place the poems in context. Part 1: becoming/discovery; rites of passage Part 2: unfurling my wings; taking risks Part 3: awakenings; cronehood What inspired you to write this book? I released my memoir as I recovered from a life-threatening illness during the height of COVID hospitalizations and deaths; a story for another day. The positive feedback I received, in tandem with my recovery, moved me to take more chances, eat the fear, and release my most personal musings to the world. I started to submit poems and personal essays and several were or will be published in anthologies. It was then that I decided to publish Wolf Woman where I illuminate and confront human emotions with intensity and honesty. I love the title! What is the significance behind it? Wolf Woman marks my initiation into cronehood and anchors the collection.
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