BOOKS

A Land in the Storytelling Sea, poems, prose poems, and photographs, FARAXA Publishing (Rabat, Malta), 2014, 123 pp.

Prepublication video, by FARAXA Publishing, A Land in the Storytelling Sea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZoJnvldf90

ANTHOLOGIES

“At Five,” poem, The Boom Project: An Anthology, The Boom Project (Louisville, Kentucky, USA), Summer 2019, pp. 156-57; 2020 Pushcart Prize nomination

“Dandelion,” poem, Poetry in Place Anthology (Redeemer University, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada), accepted 22 October 2020, publication date TBD

“Etna,” creative nonfiction, She Can Find Her Way: Women Travelers at Their Best, Upper Hand Press (Bexley, Ohio, USA), 2017, vol. 3, pp. 1-14

“Limping towards Infinity,” poem, The Tracery of Trees: An Anthology of Verse, Poetry Institute of Canada (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2015, p. 180

“The Long Way,” poem, The Boom Project: An Anthology, The Boom Project (Louisville, Kentucky, USA), Summer 2019, pp. 288-91

“On Sunday Mornings,” poem, The Boom Project: An Anthology, The Boom Project (Louisville, Kentucky, USA), Summer 2019, pp. 194-95

“The Verge of Jordan,” three poems, The Dairy Hollow Echo: An Anthology, S. Dogood Books / Sewell Publishing (Paterson, New Jersey, USA), pp. 19-20

“A York Haunting, after a Brutal Quarantine,” prose poem, 42 Stories Anthology (Nagoya-shi, Aichi-ken, Japan), accepted 2 May 2020, publication date TBD

LITERARY MAGAZINES

“Adolicensia,” prose poem, Fireweed (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), No. 76, 2002, pp. 39-40

“All Souls’ Day,” poem, Third Wednesday (Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA), Vol. 2, No. 3, Summer 2010, p. 72

“Assassinio nel porto,” poem, Descant (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 129, Volume 36, No. 2, Summer 2005, pp. 186-87

“Christmas at 13,” poem, Third Wednesday (Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA), Vol. 2, No. 3, Summer 2010, p. 59

“Dandelion,” poem, Scrivener Review (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), No. 30, Winter 2006, p. 21

“Day Lily,” poem, Scrivener Review (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), No. 30, Winter 2006, p. 18

“Dreaming of Lovers,” poem, The Abiko Annual (Kashiwa, Japan), No. 26, 2007, p. 249

“Dying,” poem, The Abiko Annual (Kashiwa, Japan), No. 26, 2007, p. 251

“English Language School,” poem (accepted, not published), The Seventh Quarry (Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom), No. 5, Winter 2007

“First Bus,” poem, The Abiko Annual (Kashiwa, Japan), No. 26, 2007, p. 249

“First Bus,” poem, Nomad’s Choir (Woodside, New York, USA), Vol. 16, No. 3, Summer 2008, p. 9

“The First Legend of San Mitri,” poem, Fire (Tackley, England, United Kingdom), No. 28, June 2007, pp. 66-67

“Ġgantija,” poem, Poetry Salzburg Review (Salzburg, Austria), No. 15, Spring 2009, p. 67

“Green Tea,” poem, The Abiko Annual (Kashiwa, Japan), No. 26, 2007, pp. 250-51

“Honeysuckle,” poem, Scrivener Review (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), No. 30, Winter 2006, p. 19

“In Baghdad,” poem, Windsor Review (Windsor, Ontario, Canada), Border Issue, Vol. 48.2, Fall 2015, p. 27

“Kennst du das Land?” poem, Poetry Salzburg Review (Salzburg, Austria), No. 10, Autumn 2006, p. 107

“The Legend ta’ l-Isperanza,” poem, Poetry Salzburg Review (Salzburg, Austria), No. 15, Spring 2009, p. 68

“Let Me Close,” poem, Lilliput Review (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA), No. 137, May 2004, p. 8

“Luzzu Blue,” poem (accepted, not published), The Seventh Quarry (Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom), No. 5, Winter 2007

“Luzzu Green,” poem, The Seventh Quarry (Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom), No. 5, Winter 2007, p. 22

“Luzzu Red,” poem, The Seventh Quarry (Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom), No. 5, Winter 2007, p. 23

“Luzzu Yellow,” poem, The Seventh Quarry (Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom), No. 6, Summer 2007, p. 11

“McCarthy’s Goldfish,” poem, Descant (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 129, Volume 36, No. 2, Summer 2005, p. 184

“Mi sposo!” poem, Descant (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 129, Volume 36, No. 2, Summer 2005, p. 185

“Myopia from a Balcony before Dawn,” poem, HQ Poetry Magazine (Swindon, England, United Kingdom), No. 35-36, 2008, p. 24

“Old Cosmology,” poem, The Abiko Annual (Kashiwa, Japan), No. 26, 2007, p. 250

“Poetry Reading,” poem, HQ Poetry Magazine (Swindon, England, United Kingdom), No. 35-36, 2008, p. 24

“Postcard from Malta II,” poem, White Pelican Review (Lakeland, Florida, USA), Vol. 12, No. 2, Fall 2011, p. 18

“PubeEssence,” prose poem, Fireweed (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), No. 76, 2002, p. 44

“The Second Legend of San Mitri,” poem, Fire (Tackley, England, United Kingdom), No. 28, June 2007, p. 67

“Sega Daytona USA,” poem, Naugatuck River Review (Westfield, Massachusetts, USA), Summer 2011, p. 49

“Shelvers,” poem, The Dalhousie Review (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), No. 84.2, Summer 2004, pp. 300-01

“The Stone Angel,” poem, Descant (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 129, Volume 36, No. 2, Summer 2005, pp. 182-83

“Teasel,” poem, Scrivener Review (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), No. 30, Winter 2006, p. 20

“War,” poem, Seam (Bishops Stortford, England, United Kingdom), No. 24, January 2006, p. 49

E-MAGAZINES

“Angelina Jolie’s Lips,” poem, eMerge Literary Magazine (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Summer 2021

“Being J. S. Bach,” poem, eMerge Literary Magazine (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Summer 2019

“Boys,” three poems, eMerge Literary Magazine (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Winter 2019

“Eva and the Snake,” poem, eMerge Literary Magazine (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Summer 2019

“Expect No Good,” poem, eMerge Literary Magazine (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Spring 2021

“God in All of This,” poem, eMerge Literary Magazine (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Fall 2021

“Honeysuckle,” poem, eMerge Literary Magazine (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Summer 2019

“How To Become Invisible,” poem, eMerge Literary Magazine (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Summer 2021

“Internet Café,” poem, Language and Culture (Pleasanton, California, USA), Summer / Fall 2009

“Postcard from Malta I,” poem, Visions International (Austin, Texas, USA), 2012

“The Trouble with Apples,” poem, eMerge Literary Magazine (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Winter 2021

“The Verge of Jordan,” three poems, eMerge Literary Magazine, (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), Summer 2017

“Wine Club Banquet Then,” poem, Melusine (Washington, D.C., USA), Fall / Winter 2010

“Wine Club Banquet Now,” poem, Melusine (Washington, D.C., USA), Fall / Winter 2010

MUSIC

“Bread and Wine,” words by Sheryl Loeffler, music by Scott Knarr, published by the Royal Canadian College of Organists (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2015

CHAPBOOKS

Luzzu Blue, poems (accepted, not published), Palimpsest Press (Kingsville, Ontario, Canada), 2007, 40 pp.

CONTESTS / AWARDS

2020 Pushcart Prize nomination, 27 November 2019

Women of Achievement Award, Zonta Club of Kitchener-Waterloo, 2016

140 Characters in Search of a Poem: An Almanac of Verse from the Twittersphere, chapbook, Honourable Mention, The Golden Grassroots Chapbook Contest, The Ontario Poetry Society (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2015

“The Eye,” poem, Honourable Mention, Dorothy Shoemaker Literary Awards Contest (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 2004

“A Misanthrope’s Primer on Death and Dying,” poem, Honourable Mention, Dorothy Shoemaker Literary Awards Contest (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 1976

RESIDENCIES

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), 3 January – 4 March 2017

PUBLIC APPEARANCES

Reading, The Glen Royal (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), 23 November 2019

Book signing, She Can Find Her Way: Women Travelers at Their Best, Christ Lutheran Church (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), 2 December 2017

Reading, Poetluck, The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), 16 February 2017

Reading, Poetluck, The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA), 19 January 2017

Reading, Poets for the Peace, Open Sesame (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 13 December 2016

Book signing, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, Christ Lutheran Church (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), 3 December 2016

Guest appearance and reading, Story Sheroes, Kitchener Public Library (a writing program for girls 12-16 offered by YWCA Kitchener-Waterloo and the Kitchener Public Library, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 30 March 2016

Book signing, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, Christ Lutheran Church (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), 5 December 2015

Guest appearance and reading, Story Sheroes, Kitchener Public Library (a writing program for girls 12-16 offered by YWCA Kitchener-Waterloo and the Kitchener Public Library, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 11 November 2015

Book signing, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, Christ Lutheran Church (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), 6 December 2014

Reading, by a representative from FARAXA Publishing, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, Gozo Book Fair, Gozo College, Girls’ Secondary School (Victoria, Gozo, Malta), 18 October 2014

Reading, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 15 October 2014; Maltese music played by Douglas Haas, piano

Reading, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, Christ Lutheran Church (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), 5 October 2014; Maltese music played by Douglas Haas, piano

Book launch, Canada, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, Gallery on the Grand (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 28 September 2014

Reading, by Lydia Ricards, “Why We Put Tinsel on the Tree,” from A Land in the Storytelling Sea, Gozo Live in the Park, Villa Rundle Gardens (Victoria, Gozo, Malta), 12 September 2014

Book signing, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, Agenda Books, Republic St. (Valletta, Malta), 2 June 2014

Book launch, Malta, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, Ministry of Education (Floriana, Malta), 30 May 2014

Book launch, Gozo, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, The Citadel (Victoria, Gozo, Malta), 21 May 2014

Reading, A Land in the Storytelling Sea, University of Malta (Msida, Malta), 30 April 2014

Reading, Poems of Nativity and Passion, Christ Lutheran Church (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), 26 March 2014

INTERVIEWS

“Poet found inspiration during year-long sabbatical in Malta,” interview with Valerie Hill, Waterloo Region Record (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 21 August 2014

“A happy place,” interview with Bob Vrbanic, Waterloo Chronicle (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), 23 July 2014

Interview with John Maciel, KW Magazine, CKWR FM, 98.5 (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 16 July 2014

Interview with Randy Johnston, Mornings on CKWR, CKWR FM, 98.5 (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), 14 July 2014

“The poetry in our islands,” interview with Paul Xuereb, The Sunday Times of Malta (Valletta, Malta), 1 June 2014

Interview with Joyce Guillaumier and Paul Xuereb, Campus FM, 103.7 (Msida, Malta), 20 May 2014 and 24 May 2014

Interview with Joanne Micallef, FARAXA Publishing (Rabat, Malta), 15 May 2014 

TEACHING

Faculty Member, Write! Kitchener, The Word Guild (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), September 2013

MEMBERSHIPS

Member, The League of Canadian Poets, since May 2015

Associate Member, The League of Canadian Poets, from March 2012 to May 2015

PUBLISHED ENDORSEMENTS

Sensual, painterly, even prayerful, these poems deepen into a land of legend and myth, an island populated, past and present, by saints, beggars, and pirates, all of whom are blessed by “vivid geometries” of light. Sheryl Loeffler portrays Malta as a country awash in splendor and contradiction, “this land where Christians call God Alla.” A Land in the Storytelling Sea is quietly pleasurable in its narrative journey and in its subtle and seductive craft.

—Michael Waters, Pushcart-Prize-winning American poet

Sheryl Loeffler’s first book is a stunning achievement by any standard. Waking up in Malta after 24 hours of sleepless travel to the blossom of a Mediterranean sun, the self-exiled poet lives her days listening to the heartbeat of its people, its sounds and silences, taking in the incense and faith of its magnificent churches, seeing its oracle monuments. She sings in poetry of “a great mystery, a sacrament, really.…” Poems such as “Luzzu Yellow” and “The Legend ta’ I-Isperanza,” with synchronous messaging in the photos “Weeping Osiris” and “Boathouse Madonna,” to mention just two, speak eloquently of a poetry, precise, disciplined, fabulous in its imagery. As to Sheryl Loeffler’s confession “that..I, who live the lines and spaces / of a simple music / could see and do such things / and almost understand them,” Sheryl Loeffler, the searcher, the dreamer, the musician, the poet, unravels the “great mystery” and becomes the lover who embraces her new found rock paradise and sings in shining lines of her new love, her precious new discoveries.

—Rienzi Crusz, Canadian poet

Sheryl Loeffler’s poetry has magically been ignited by her deepening immersion in repeated experiences of Malta’s landscapes, ancient and modern, and of those, residents or visitors, who inhabit them. Her style is a mixture of the elegantly colloquial and the tingling poetic, encapsulating moments where a sight has captured her senses and her imagination, enabling her to summon up shapes and figures—drowned sailors visiting a submerged chapel or old “three-legged” tourists exploring Malta as summer slowly changes to autumn and the last swimmer bids farewell to the sea.

—Paul Xuereb, Maltese theatre historian and critic

If you haven’t made the trip to Malta and back, these poems will make you want to. If you’ve already made that trip, you’ll want to do it again. As Yeats once said, the universal is in the particular, and in Sheryl Loeffler’s carefully crafted poems, you’ll feel how the particular places, sights, tales, legends, and moments from arrival to departure evoke the universals of the heart. The strange becomes the familiar; the known, the unknown; the elusive, richly mysterious but inescapably personal and intense. Sheryl Loeffler transforms place into feeling, sight into emotion, and travel into self-discovery. Her poems capture the intensity of her response to Malta, and her photographs, which accompany the poems, illustrate what many of us merely look at, but fail to see. Sheryl Loeffler’s camera eye, like her inner poetic eye, isolates and transforms and shapes the historical and the local into a kind of paradoxical lyrical hardness, a disciplined delicacy, a visual sharpness in words and images that are poetic in thought and response and insight. Skill and intuition meet in A Land in the Storytelling Sea. Take the trip with her; share the arc of transformation she undergoes.

—Ed Jewinski, Canadian poet and academic

EDUCATION

PhD candidate, English, University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario, Canada); teaching assistant to Canadian literary critic, Northrop Frye

MA, gold medal nomination, English, University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)

BA, magnum cum laude, English and History, Wittenberg University (Springfield, Ohio, USA)

Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Writing, Creative Writing Program, The Humber School for Writers (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), with Canadian poet and novelist, Elisabeth Harvor

Course credit, Summer Institute of Film and Television, Algonquin College (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), with Canadian writer and filmmaker, Paul Donovan

Course credit, Writers’ Conference, William Paterson University (Paterson, New Jersey, USA), with American poet, writer, and editor, John Ciardi