Former 12 year Regional Director of the Poetry Society of America, Elena Karina Byrne, is a teacher, editor, collage artist, poetry consultant / moderator for The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and Literary Programs Director for The Ruskin Art Club. Forthcoming in The Journal, The Kenyon Review and Now Culture, her publications include, 2009 Pushcart Prize XXXIII Best of the Small Presses, Best American Poetry 2005, The Yale Review, The Paris Review, APR, TriQuarterly, Denver Quarterly, Colorado Review, Ploughshares, Verse, and Volt . Her books include: The Flammable Bird, (Zoo Press /Tupelo Press 2002), MASQUE (Tupelo Press, 2008).