About the Poet/Scholar

Vinni Marie D’Ambrosio, Ph.D., is a distinguished poet and scholar, having graduated from Smith College and New York University. Her impressive body of work has been featured in anthologies, journals, and newspapers across the United States, Thailand, and Italy. D’Ambrosio’s notable publications include the poetry collections Life of Touching Mouths (New York University Press) and An Italian Morning (Waterside Press). Additionally, she authored Mexican Gothic, a long narrative poem about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, which showcases woodcuts by Karen Kunc (Blue Heron Press), and Eliot Possessed, a cultural study of T.S. Eliot’s youth (New York University Press). One of her poems, “Copper Beech,” has the honor of being inscribed on a public memorial monument commissioned by New York City. 

As an active poet, D’Ambrosio has participated in over one hundred poetry readings throughout the United States and Canada, receiving accolades such as a poet-in-residency at San Diego State University and two fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, alongside numerous prizes for her poetry. 

For twelve years, she also directed poetry readings at the Brooklyn Museum. D’Ambrosio played a vital role as the president of the T.S. Eliot Society in St. Louis and led Pen & Brush, Inc., in New York City. Currently a Professor Emerita of the City University of New York, her contributions to literature include leading a seminar in poetry classics at the American Association of University Women in New York City, further emphasizing her rich Vinni Marie D'Ambrosio biography.