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VOLUSIA COUNTY POET LAUREATE, DR. DAVID B. AXELROD
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Dr. David B. Axelrod…
…is a Volusia County Poet Laureate since 2015 (continuing). He lives in Daytona Beach, where he is also founder and director of the Creative Happiness Institute, Inc. (CHI), a not-for-profit, educational organization that offers literary and cultural programs to the public.
As an author and sponsor of international writers’ programs covering dozens of countries and nearly forty languages, he has performed and taught in England and Ireland, France, Italy and Sicily, Austria, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, Hong Kong and throughout the People’s Republic of China where he was guest of the the family of the President of China.
Himself a student of ten languages, author of twenty-four books of poetry including the newest entitled THE OFFICIAL RULES FOR OLYMPIC BED RIDING. A new 2024 Olympic Commemorative edition will be published in March, 2024.
He is the winner of a Florida Book Award Gold Medal and a national Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR) award for his non-fiction biography of Merlin Stone Remembered , as well as publishing literally hundreds of articles a well as short stories. His work has been translated and published in numerous languages including Albanian and Bulgarian, Chinese and Japanese, Hebrew and Yiddish, Italian and Sicilian, Greek and Macedonian, Russian and Romanian, French and Creole, Spanish and Portuguese, German and Dutch among others!
Dr. Axelrod, earlier, served as Suffolk County, Long Island, Poet Laureate and has entered record books as the only American to receive two back-to-back Fulbright Awards in separate areas, as poet-in-residence in Yugoslavia and then professor of American Literature in Macedonia. With his third Fulbright, he became the first poet to be formally acknowledged as American Poet in Residence in the People’s Republic of China. There, he also assisted in establishing an American Center, served as Warden of Foreign Nationals for Guangzhou, taught media and literature, and lectured in six provinces.
Dr. Axelrod holds his Ph.D. from Union Institute in Academic Program Design and Administration, granted for his establishing the not-for-profit writers services, Writers Unlimited Agency, Inc., as well as Writers Ink Press. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from the University of Iowa Writers Workshops; a Master of Arts degree in poetry from The Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Massachusetts.
Dr. Axelrod has received grants for literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of writing, arts and service projects including funding from the National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council for the Arts; County of Suffolk; Volusia County, State of Virginia; Towns of Brookhaven, Westhampton and Riverhead; America the Beautiful Foundation; International Paper Company; Wal-Mart Good Works grants program; State University of New York Research Division and Board of Education Cooperative Services among many others. Most recently, CHI received funding from the Cultural Council of Volusia County, and the State of the Florida”State of the Arts” fund.
He is the founder and publisher of Writers Ink Press, a not-for-profit alternative publisher of arts editions now under the aegis of Creative Happiness Institute. He is also a specialist in teaching the Healing Art of Writing and in that capacity also is an Elder and member of the board for DaoUSA, a Daoist church, and an honorary Wudang priest.
Dr. Axelrod’s own Curriculum Vita enumerates nearly twenty pages of education, artistic and administrative accomplishments. Or read this article about him.
I would be happy to hear from you!
- Happy to serve Volusia County’s cultural needs.
- Available for readings and workshops
- The Healing Power of Writing
- Freelance editing and writing
My personal email address: axelrodthepoet@yahoo.com
Come to my events: Future Readings and book parties.
April 18, Thursday at 2 p.m., reading for St. Thomas University, 15401 NW 37th Ave., Miami Gardens,33054
April 27, Saturday, talk at Florida State Poets Association, “Spring Fling,” at 10 a.m. in DeLand, FL.
April 28, Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at The Waterworks as guest of Ancient City Poets.
I’m pleased to read as a feature and with my fellow poets. I also appear as The Volusia County Poet Laureate reading selections from my new book. This volume of 70 all-new poems includes a humorous poem about Olympic Bed Riding–in honor of those who are bed-ridden (which I sometimes am, so you can be sure I am not making fun of you). But clearly, the poems in my book include a range of topics from family to local flora and fauna.
If you can click these links, you can read reviews of my books and performances:
ORDER OLYMPIC BED RIDING from the publisher. https://www.boldventurepress.com/official-rules-for-olympic-bed-riding-the/
Soon you can order through eBay and request a signed copy.
Reviews of poetry and performances:
David B. Axelrod wanted to become a stand-up comic … An MFA and a PhD [turned] him into a distinguished poet. But the glint in the eye of the skilled comedian has remained throughout his writing career. Hardly a poem passes without a joke, a hint of irony, or a pun. A keen observer of the society around him (and especially of its absurdities), he offers us a variegated series of perceptive anecdotes revealing a gentle intelligence that does not hesitate to make fun of itself.
[Axelrod’s last book, Mother Tongue] is carefully assembled with poems of similar themes grouped together. The initial section includes poems of the author’s childhood, often involving painful memories of anxieties and family conflicts. Subsequent sections deal with the poet’s adult life, the problems of aging—physical decline, illness, doctors, medications, and so forth. However, these are not gloomy, self-pitying works, but rather sober yet vivid portrayals, usually with a humorous or ironic conclusion. American Book Review (Volume 44, 1). –Robert Kramer is a widely published poet, playwright, critic, and translator of European literature. He is also Former director of International Studies at Manhattan College, and past coordinator of the New York Poets Cooperative.
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED
CLICK ON THIS LINK to order your copy:
MOTHER TONGUE by David B. Axelrod | eBay
Reading David B. Axelrod’s new collection, Mother Tongue, I was struck by its ease and simplicity of tone and language. I love how the eyes glide over the lines while at the same time my heart and mind are enraptured by the narrative. These poems are compelling. ” —Lenny DellaRocca, Founder, co-Publisher, South Florida Poetry Journal
Years of Praise for David B. Axelrod
“Approachable, wise, and witty poems.” — Peter Meinke, Poet Laureate of Florida
“Honest, personal, yet universal poetry.” — Barry Wallenstein, Author of Drastic Dislocations, New & Selected Poems.
“His poems tend to speak openly of what matters the most to him—love and wit.” — Lola Haskins, twice Florida Book Awards winner, and Emily Dickenson Prize winner.
“One of the finest and most original American poets now writing.” — X. J. Kennedy, Frost Medal for Lifetime Service
“The truth of his poetry is like life itself “—compelling. — Louis Simpson, Pulitzer Prize
“[Poems to] cherish and pass around …a prize to keep.” — William Stafford, National Book Award
“Axelrod is a treat.” — The New York Times
ALL VOWS: NEW & SELECTED POEMS by David B. Axelrod