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Michael Bourgo

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Genre

Poetry, Children's, Memoir

Member Since

May 2019

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Michael Bourgo started out to be a history teacher but ended up spending 34 years at IBM in sales and customer service. He began writing as a casual hobby some thirty years ago, but since retirement it has become a vocation that he pursues on a daily basis.

He divides his poetry into two broad categories: spontaneous and planned. "Spontaneous" poems are the ones that you will find in his first two collections, "Moments Past and Present" and "More Moments." These are mostly traditional lyric poems, centered on daily life, family, nature, and beliefs, arising from the thoughts and observations of every day.

His "planned" verse appears in several recent books. "Towards a More Perfect Union" is a set of 51 rhymed poems in a set format that profi Michael Bourgo started out to be a history teacher but ended up spending 34 years at IBM in sales and customer service. He began writing as a casual hobby some thirty years ago, but since retirement it has become a vocation that he pursues on a daily basis.

He divides his poetry into two broad categories: spontaneous and planned. "Spontaneous" poems are the ones that you will find in his first two collections, "Moments Past and Present" and "More Moments." These are mostly traditional lyric poems, centered on daily life, family, nature, and beliefs, arising from the thoughts and observations of every day.

His "planned" verse appears in several recent books. "Towards a More Perfect Union" is a set of 51 rhymed poems in a set format that profile each of the states and the District of Columbia. "The Grand Tour" describes each of the 50 capital cities of Europe in similar fashion. A third collection "Hail to the Chief" is a portrait of our Presidents. Although Michael has no plans to give up serious reflective poetry, he enjoyed the very different challenges of writing light verse in rhyme and in a fixed format. "A to Z Animal Antics" is in the same vein, but for children.

His other volume of verse, "The Years," is a set of 24 long poems on notable characters and events in the 19th century. It's a marriage of two lifelong interests-- poetry and history. A sequel on the twentieth century, "Modern Times, " came out in 2020.

In 2019 he was asked to assist with a translation of Bulgarian poet Pavlina Michailova. Over time he wrote a series of companion poems for her verse and the result was a collaboration entitled "From Season to Season."

"Once Upon a Time" is his first venture in prose. It is a memoir of his life from age 3 to 14, and one which began as a series of memory poems he wrote some years ago.

Michael is an active member of the writing community in State College PA. He has received commissions from the Penn State Center for the Book, leads two local writing groups and teaches for the Penn State extension program. He has won first place in the Grand Prize contest of the Pennsylvania state poetry three times, was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and his verse has appeared in a number of publications. You can see samples of his work at http://theseasonsandotherpoems.blogsp...
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Michael Bourgo’s books

Average rating: 4.67 · 6 ratings · 1 review · 20 distinct works

	The Grand Tour: Visiting the Capitals of Europe it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Once Upon a Time Growing Up in the 1950s it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Moments Past and Present: Selected Poems really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	More Moments: New and Selected Poems really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Towards a More Perfect Union: Profiles of the Fifty States 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Years: A Memoir of the 19th Century 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A to Z Animal Antics by Michael Bourgo (Goodreads Author), Melina-Elina Bondokova (Cover Illustrator), Libby Baker (Narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hail to the Chief: Portraits of Our Presidents 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Modern Times: Remembering the 20th Century 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2020	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	This Poem, That Poem: A Few Minutes Past the Hour and Thinking Like a Greek 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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The Discovery of Poetry: A Field Guide to Reading and Writing Poems

by Frances Mayes (Goodreads Author)

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Oct 17, 2020 10:51AM

Michael Bourgo is currently reading

Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio, #1)

by Greg Bear

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Oct 17, 2020 10:48AM

Michael’s Quotes

“I dwell in Possibility –
A fairer House than Prose –
More numerous of Windows –
Superior – for Doors –”
― Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

tags: poetry, possibility

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