About

Ralph Pennel was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and grew up in Illinois just outside of Chicago. Ralph completed his undergraduate degree at Knox College before moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to pursue a MFA at Hamline University, where he studied with poets Deborah Keenan, Joyce Sutphen, and Jim Moore. Ralph’s first full-length collection of poetry, A World Less Perfect for Dying In, was published by Cervena Barva Press in 2015, and his poems, stories, and works of nonfiction have appeared in journals such as The Ocean State Review, The Iowa Review, The Worcester Review, The South Dakota Review, F(r)iction, Elm Leaves Journal, and more. Ralph has also published numerous reviews of books with such publications as Tarpaulin Sky, and, most notably, Rain Taxi Review of Books. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart, a Best of the Net Award, the Best Small Fictions Anthology, and he was twice a finalist for Somerville Poet Laureate. Ralph is a founding editor and the fiction editor for the online literary journal, Midway Journal (www.midwayjournal.com), originally published out of St. Paul, Minnesota, and now in its nineteenth year of business. Ralph curates the Authors at the Artisan (Triple-A) Reading Series at the Artisan Gallery and the Knox is Lit! An Alumni Reading Series at Knox College, He is a former member of the planning committee for Lit Youngstown Literary Festival, and used to serve on the board of the New England Poetry Club. Ralph has taught writing and literature at several colleges and universities in the Midwest and the East Coast.