Sociology is a useless study unless it connects with people on a personal level. It's all very well to close the borders and/or condemn the bourgeois, but unless you can involve and understand individual immigrants and shopkeepers, you're nothing but words on paper. Most sociological poetry is just an excuse to spout bad theories, but a few sociological poets intricately weave the universal with the personal, giving us passionate epics that tell us much about the poets and ourselves. Joseph O'Leary, with his immaculate words and relevant symbols, is such a poet.
Joseph O'Leary was born in Yonkers, NY and received a degree in philosophy and english at SUNY Albany in 1998. He is the author of an unpublished novel, Stillwell Memorial, and three books of poems titled The Open Wouind Manifesto, Transit, A Laughter, Interrupted. You can find out more about his books of poetry at the Unlikely Stories bookstore. He is currently working on his second novel, Last Call, a music and spoken word CD called 23 Months: A NYC Memoir, and a fourth poetry collection. He is the founder of poetryisnotdead.com, a website featuring poetry, fiction, and artwork, and Gateway Drug Press.
Joseph says, "I'm always looking for other writers to connect with and I encourage people to write me at ntrainbug@yahoo.com to discuss the craft, my work, or their work. All letters answered. I'm currently looking for an agent or a publisher to represent me."
Joseph's works here at Unlikely Stories are:
2001:
Lily
The Ones that Remained
The Man Who Fucked God
Fear
Some Good Reason
For New York
Post Millennium Depression
Prime Mover
Sunrise, Portland Maine
The Bare Essentials
The Benefits of Home Schooling