'Bout Brenda Moossy

Brenda J. Moossy, a first generation American of Lebanese descent, was born and raised in East Texas during the 50's and 60's. She fled her small town after high school graduation to Austin, Texas during The Summer of Love, 1967. After flunking out of the University of Texas THREE times (the streets were far more interesting than the classrooms), and after deciding that The Revolution or Global Destruction was imminent, She packed her gear in the back of an old Econoline Van and headed for the Ozark Mountains. When a stint at the Blunderosa Commune proved weirder than she could bear, she reluctantly moved to "town".

She has lived most of her adult life in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she decided to "git serious" and go back to school. Now, a nurse specializing in HIV disease, she feels her work has impacted her world view and her writing. She is a founding and active member of the Ozark Poetry Collective, which has grown to become Ozark Poets and Writers Collective.

Brenda has four limited edition chapbooks and this Spring co-produced an audio tape entitled Ozark Women Poets--Snake Dreams. She has published in small literary journals, given numerous public readings including appearances at the Cantab Lounge in Boston, the Nuyorican Poetry Cafe and The Knitting Factory in New York City, City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, and Cody's Books Poetry Flash Reading Series in Berkeley. A member of the Ozarks Team to the 1995 National Poetry Slam, she also has conducted classes and workshops on the craft of poetry to young writers in the Arkansas and New Jersey schools. She is the proud parent of one adult child, Peter, who is also a poet.