Michael Sweeney, a two-time Pushcart nominee, earned his MFA from Brooklyn College and was a long-time student of Isshinryu Modes Karate. He is the author of Octagon Commonweal (Spuyten Duyvil, 2015) and In Memory of the Fast Break (Plain View Press, 2008), a Finalist and Must-Read selection for the Massachusetts Center for the Book's 2009 MASSBOOKS OF THE YEAR/POETRY Awards. "The Last Cracker," from that volume, was selected by Stephen Dunn as runner-up for the St. Louis Poetry Center's 48th Annual "Best Poem" contest and appeared in Margie: The American Journal of Poetry, Volume 6. He lives in Connecticut with his wife Patricia.
