Dr.Gretna Wilkinson, Ph.D. was born and raised in Guyana South America, and began her teaching career as a missionary teacher in the jungles there. She has published four chapbooks: Shhh...I’m Thinking; Judging Cain; Nude in the Rain; and What the Hat Knows.. Her full-length collection — available on amazon.com (Cool Women Press, 2011) is titled, Opening the Drawer. Her poems appear in several publications including Poets of New Jersey: From Colonial to Contemporary; Spindrift; Sensations Magazine; and Carriage House Poetry Series. She has performed her poems on radio and television. She has been featured in The New York Times; NJ Star Ledger; Home News Tribune; and Courier News. As an Artist in Residence with NJ PAC / United Way of West Essex, she has worked with children in Newark and the Oranges helping them find their voices and sing or scream their songs, stories, skits, and poems. She is also an Artist in the Schools for the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. She was among 10 poets who received a NEH grant to study under Abena Busia, Dana Gioia, and M.L. Rosenthal. Dr. Wilkinson is a MAC Fellow with the State of New Jersey and a Senior Fellow of the Southern Regional Educational Board. A former college professor of sixteen years, she joined the Visual and Performing Arts Academy of Red bank Regional High School where she is instructor of Creative Writing. She donates countless hours to editing the poetry of many New Jersey prisoners. She was recently named Monmouth County Art Educator of the Year.
