Dr. R. Nikolas Macioci earned a PhD from The Ohio State University and taught English, Writer's Seminar (a course he created for select students), and Drama in Columbus City Schools. OCTELA, the Ohio Council of Teachers of English, awarded Nik Macioci best secondary English teacher in the state of Ohio. He won First Place in the l987 National Writer's Union Poetry Competition judged by Denise Levertov, First Place in The Baudelaire Award Competition sponsored by The World Order of Narrative and Formalist Poets (1989). Second Place in Zone 3's first annual Rainmaker Awards, judged by Howard Nemerov (1989), and Second Place in the Writer's Digest annual competition, Judged by Diane Wakoski (1991). Nik is the author of two chapbooks, Cafes of Childhood, and Greatest Hits , as well as four books: Cafes of Childhood (the original chapbook with additional poems), Why Dance?, Necessary Windows , and Mother Goosed. Forth- coming are Occasional Heaven and A Human Saloon. His book, Cafes of Childhood was submitted for the Pulitzer Prize. Critics and judges called Cafes of Childhood a "beautifully harrowing account of child abuse, but not "sentimental" or self-pitying" an "amazing book," and "a single unified whole." In addition, Nik's work has been published in more than two hundred magazines here and abroad. Most recently, Macioci has published in The Society of Classical Poets journal, Clark Street Review, Blue Unicorn, and Chiron Review. He is a member of Bistro poets critique group.