### Featured Poet: David Elliot Eisenstat David Elliot Eisenstat, a recent convert to poetry composition but a longtime choral musician, cites Elizabeth Bishop and William Carlos Williams as models, admiring their precision. In his brief poetry career he has already been published by a variety of boundary-breaking journals including *Pere Ube* and *JAKE*. He also serves as a poetry editor for *Variant Lit*. In his own words: “With almost a decade in New York under his belt and comprehensive knowledge of how not to block the subway stairs, David’s Brooklyn-born-and-raised wife has finally accepted him as a Real New Yorker™. He is a software developer with a Ph.D. in computer science from Brown University.” *Photo credit: @KathrynCooperWeddings*

### Simul Subs All April To celebrate Poetry Month, *The Pierian* wants to read your poems, even if they are under consideration elsewhere. Use the link below to submit up to five poems simul, or enter code CRUEL24 when you submit. [https://www.thepierian.org/solicited/CRUEL24](https://www.thepierian.org/solicited/CRUEL24)

### February Featured Poet: Zachary Daniel Zach is a librarian and poet living in Louisville, Kentucky. He has been published in *Stone Circle Review* as well as in *The Pierian* Issues 1.9 and 1.10. He cites James Wright's odes to the midwest, the dark surrealism of Charles Simic, and the precise associations of Wallace Stevens as major influences. In his own words: “[Zach] first discovered an interest in poetry when attending a reading at Butler University with a friend enrolled in their MFA program. Since then, the world of poetry has taken him by storm, and he can conceive of no other way to live his life. His poetry is inspired by a fascination with the natural world, literature as an endless wellspring of meaning, and a metaphysics of the commonplace.”

### January Featured Poet: Adam Haver Issue 2.1 marks Adam’s fourth appearance in *The Pierian* and his first that is not an explicit meditation on ancient myth and culture. From the world of Gilgamesh, the seas of Amphitrite, and the arcane codes of Sator squares, he brings us to a beat-up car parked at a beach. Adam’s poetic sensibilities have brought him wide publishing success and a number of notable awards. He incorporates wide-ranging cultural interests into his work, translating from Spanish and German and composing haiku. Favored influences include Emily Dickinson, Rainer Maria Rilke, and e. e. cummings. Publishing credits include *Popshot Quarterly, Poetry Scotland, Ballast, and Braided Way*. Awards include the 2022 Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry--you read his winning poem on the [award’s website](https://olemiss.app.box.com/s/aofuowmj4i2s6bcw19tf5sf3y3frucao)--and the Utah Original Writing Competition, supported by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, for an unpublished poetry collection.

### Congratulations to Jonathan Ukah Please join us in congratulating Jonathan Ukah for his poem, "A Second of Your Life", our choice for the 2023 Alexander Pope Award! Read Mr. Ukah's poem in our print issue [available now](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-pierian-max-r-ekstrom/20892991?ean=9798868929571) at bookstores around the world.