Elisa Albo

Last fall, when I celebrated the publication of my chapbook with a reading at Books & Books, a dream come true, I recalled with Mitchell how nearly twenty-five years before, I would attend the monthly Friday night open poetry readings, at first much too nervous to even consider reading a poem of my own until I shakily did and gradually, over the years, grew more confident so that my hands didn't at least visibly tremble. I also reminded Mitchell of the time I wandered over to the magazine stand in the original store on the night of a reading and to my astonishment, found a copy of Bomb Magazine, in which I had just been published. I rushed over to Mitchell to show him, and I will never forget his reaction: He took the magazine from my hands and standing there, read the two poems all the way through. Then, when I went to buy the four copies he had--and I probably shouldn't reveal this!--he gave them to me. His kind and generous support that evening sustained me for a long time, as I'm sure he had done for innumerable writers over the last 25 years. From the local writers' side, what would we do without Mitchell and Books and Books, our independent gem. Thank you, and congratulations!

Elisa Albo
Poet