New Classic Poems – Contemporary Verse That Rhymes

New Classic Poems
Poets’ Biographies
collection Invitation to the Trance, and a short story
series, Me and Frankie Down at the Bar. Every day
she’s out on her bicycle enjoying the mountains
and trees of beautiful Vancouver, Canada.
James K. McAlister is the youngest poet whose
works appear in this book: he is 11 years old.
He started writing poems at the instigation of his
Grade Six teacher at Trinity College School in
Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. Besides writing
poetry from time to time, James enjoys
mathematics, competitive swimming, making
music on the cello, violin and saxophone, and
playing with his sister Zara and his Guinea Pig,
“Coffee Bear.”
Neil Harding McAlister, M.D., Ph.D. (father
of James K., above) lives in Port Perry, Ontario,
Canada. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, who
practices Internal Medicine along with his wife,
Nazlin, a Family Physician. Co-author of five
books (with H. Dominic Covvey), McAlister has
published both non-fiction and humor in
professional and commercial journals,
particularly The Medical Post. Although trained in
science, he retains a love of the arts in his
hobbies: composing music and writing rhyming,
metrical poetry. Travel has been inspirational for
much of his work. A particular admirer of
Longfellow, McAlister maintains the Internet
site, Traveler’s Tales: Contemporary Formal Poetry.
He is the Editor and Publisher of this anthology.
Frances McConnel, Ph.D. holds her
Doctorate in English Literature. Recently retired
from the University of California at Riverside,
she devotes herself to writing. She was born in
Providence, Rhode Island, USA, and has lived in
other places including Alaska and Tennessee.
She now resides in California. She published her
first poem at age 15. Narrative and lyric poems
are her favorites, but she has recently begun to
write surrealistic prose poems as well.
Prolifically published, Dr. McConnel has two
books of poetry: Gathering Light, Pygmalion
Press, 1979; and A Selection of Haiku, Bucket of
Type Printery, Anchorage, Alaska, 2004. She has
published poems widely in such journals as The
Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, The Alaska Quarterly
Review, Solo, Mudlark, and others too numerous
to list. She also publishes short stories and essays.
Last year she won the Oneiros Press Broadside
Poetry Contest with When You Walk the Curtis
Tungsten Mine Road. Besides writing, Frances
loves to swim, watch movies with her husband,
John Peavoy (who teaches English at a college),
and hike with friends. Presently, Dr. McConnel
is working on a family memoir about growing up
in the chill of the cold war.
Mary McIntosh, at 84 years of age, is proud to
inform us that she holds another kind of record:
she is the most senior writer whose poetry
appears in this anthology. Born in England, she
has been a U.S. citizen for most of her adult life.
She now lives in Florida, where she says that “I
like it fine except for the hurricanes!” Ms.
McIntosh lived in Alaska for three years, where
it seems she acquired a taste for Robert Service’s
poetic style from the Canadian Yukon, located
right next door. And she does it so well! Service
himself would have been proud to have written
her rowdy narrative, The Ballad of Trapper McGrew.
Sharron R. McMillan informs us: “I am a
writer, and I run a Bed and Breakfast called
Hard-To-Come-By. I was born and raised in
Alberta and now live in Sechelt, British
Columbia, Canada. I have written poetry, plays
and stories for as long as I can remember. I
write about nature, social issues, my own
skewed view of things. In the 1970’s I suggested
that the local newspaper editor print a little
culture with the news. To my surprise he
accepted. This first effort inspired me to risk
sharing more. I have since had my writings
published in magazines and newspapers; and I
have won a few writing contests. I live on five
acres of forest with my husband, Ken, who is an
artist/photographer; and with our two goldfish
and two chickens. I have six grandchildren
under the age of six. I crochet, read, garden and
enjoy living a quiet, simple life.” Dim Sum was
first printed in Time for Rhyme in 1995, “a small
hand-bound booklet for a very limited
distribution.”
Chrissy K. McVay is the mother of a son and
three stepsons. She has been writing poetry
since the age of 14. When not writing, she is the
painter for her husband’s handyman business.
Their family recently moved to the mountains of
North Carolina, USA. Her first novel, Why the
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