Linda Opyr is the Nassau County Poet Laureate 2011-13.  She is the author of seven collections of poetry and her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies, journals, magazines and newspapers, including The Hudson Review, The Atlanta Review, and The New York Times.  She holds a Doctor of Arts degree in English and American Literature from St. John's University.  Linda has served for over 35 years as a secondary English teacher and administrator in New York State.  Currently, she is an adjunct English instructor at Nassau Community College. 

Winner of the Thurber Prize for Humor (for Half Empty), David Rakoff has also been short-listed for the Whiting Award as well as the Stephen Leacock Medal. He is a two-time recipient of the Lambda Book Award for Humor and a charter member and regular contributor to Public Radio International's This American Life. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine and numerous collections. He contributed to the 2008 book State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, the recent anthology, My First New York, and the forthcoming The Fifty Funniest American Writers from Library of America. His most recent book of sharply-observed essays is entitled Half Empty.

Deputy Commissioner, P-12 Education NYSED