Meet The Group

New Works Review's founder was Lucia Greer. Volume 1, Number 1 appeared in February, 1998. The plot to launch this lit-zine was hatched when Tim Healy met Chia at an advanced computer programming class in Houston Texas. After a brief discussion, the "go" button was pushed, and Chia was unanimously elected Honcho-in-Charge, and Tim defaulted to Story Editor. Much has happened since. NWR now boasts the finest editorial staff of any on line publication anywhere on the planet. Read more below.

  Lucia Crocheron Greer, better know as "Chia" was attending a   writer's workshop and many authors talked about not getting their   work accepted for publication. Chia suggested that anyone who   was seeking publication to send their work to her. In 1997 Chia   started Casa Chia Library, an online echo of her private library. Her first story was about Sam Eskin, folksinger-collector. During August, 1997 she met Tim Healy at a computer class, and shortly after that New Works Review was formed. It hit cyberspace in February, 1998. Ads in Poets & Writers Magazine brought in many manuscripts. Barbara Massie and Mike Burnett were invited to join The Group, then other departmental editors were added from places in the United States and Canada. In the Fall of 2000, Chia was struck with a debilitating attack, and rather than close the ezine, it was sold to Pivotal Glyph Foundation in Chicago under the able direction of Brian Adkins. Brian's editorship was cut short for unspecified reasons. Chia and Tim picked up the domain, and like the Phoenix, it rose again. In the four-and-a-half years of publication, 325 works —short stories, poetry, music, paintings, book reports, and visual arts were presented. National recognition from personalities such as Oprah Winfrey and various hard-copy publishers were received on an ongoing basis.
     Chia continues her Website presentations on a smaller scale with her Casa Chia Library and the new publication, Passport Journal, which will be on line very shortly. We'll also place a link to the site here as soon as it hits cyberspace.

     Hector Ibarra is NWR's publisher. Hector J. Ibarra is an established educational administrator who has served as an Area Superintendent of Schools for Houston Independent School District, and Super-intendent of Schools for the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District, San Benito, Texas. Hector has Superintendent experience and certification, with an educational background in Business Administration.
     Hector has well-rounded knowledge of all areas of the educational arena, with in-depth experience in Curriculum and Instruction, Personnel Management, and Business Operations. His strengths include creativity, with the ability to define a need, develop a concept and formulate a workable plan. Hector has a record of accomplishment in the recruitment, selection, and development of quality teachers and administrators from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
     Hector is now president of his own Educational Consulting Company, Regina US Inc.

     Tim Healy is NWR's Webmaster and Art and Story Editor. "One thing I like to do is get things accomplished," Tim said." One of my most memorable moments came when I learned to tie my own shoelaces at age 5. A lot followed after that. One memorable incident occurred when I cracked up the family car at age 18. I don't consider that a winner, but I did find out that sedans aren't meant to be raced on dirt roads. Flying airplanes became a passion, and I earned my private pilot and commercial pilot certificates just for the fun of it. This led to the founding of Clipper Air International, a commuter airline serving the Caribbean. My Dad was smart enough to make sure I went to school to also get smarts, and I earned my B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from Hofstra University. When I sat for the five-hour M.B.A. comprehensive exam I had to answer two of the three questions asked. The luck of the Irish prevailed, because I did know the answers to two. Answer to number three is still a mystery. And speaking of Irish, I obtained honest-to-gosh Irish citizenship just a few months ago. But that's another story." Read Midwest Book Review's interview of Tim that was in the December '04 edition.

     Charles Fishman is Poetry Editor of New Works Review and director of the Distin- guished Speakers Program at Farmingdale State University. He holds the world record for hitchhiking from Seattle, Washington, to New York City: 70 hours. He was in Florence when the Arno River overflowed its banks and floated downstream in his sleeping bag at Woodstock. He was underwater swimming champ at Camp Wauwipex two summers running and can still balance almost anything, though not always himself. Charles loves beauty in all its forms, textures, tastes, sounds, fragrances, nuances, and resonances and looks for poems that share some of these qualities. He lives with his wife, Ellen, on Long Island, near the Great South Bay, and has amazing memories of growing up in a different century. He can still outdance the twenty year olds but has not made peace with his ghosts. Read about Charles in a recent blurb by Farmingdale State University

     Gordon Bennett, one of NWR's Story Editors, writes mainstream, mystery, and  speculative fiction   under the pen-name Isak Romun, is primarily a  short-story writer whose credits include Ellery Queen's Mystery  Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Mystery Monthly, Espionage Magazine, The New Black Mask, S t. Anthony Messenger, the Danish magazine Sondags, CUBE Literary Magazine, and other periodicals and journals. His fiction has been included in Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, Isaac Asimov, and Mystery Writers of America anthologies as well as in high school and college texts. His story, The Enjoyment of an Artist, has been recorded by Arte Johnson on audio cassette (Dove Books on Tape, Inc.).
      Bennett has been listed several times on the Honor Roll of the Yearbook of The Mystery and Suspense Story. He is a winner in the NEA/PEN American Syndicated Fiction Project for his story, "Lully's Baton." In conjunction with this award, his winning entry was published in Sunday supplements of the Chicago Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle. His story, Eagles, was a winner in the Catholic Press Association Short Story Competition. He has served as a short-story judge for the Edgar Awards of the Mystery Writers of America and, locally, as a short-story judge for college writers' conferences. Bennett has written articles on Civil War history which have appeared in Civil War Times Illustrated, Soldiers (the magazine of the US Army), The New York Times, and other magazines and newspapers. He has written articles on management, training and education, and problem solving which have appeared in various professional journals. He is a member and past Board Member of The Virginia Writers' Club, Inc. (past President).

      Sherry Bowen is a published children's book author with three books published with Richard C. Owen Publisher. She was also contracted to write six non-fiction books, which were published locally in Georgia for the Writing Express Program. In addition to her books, Sherry has had stories and articles published in such magazines as Humpty Dumpty, Footsteps, Atlanta Parent, Atlanta Baby, and Michigan Learning Magazine, as well as being the former Children's Editor of New Works Review and now NWRs Special Projects Editor and Story Editor.

     Laurel Johnson is NWR's Review (stories and poetry) Editor. Laurel is a   retired Registered Nurse who believes that love, compassion, and   the natural wonders around us enrich her existence. Her lifelong  love affair with poetry and prose took a natural progression after retirement when she began to write in earnest.  Her published books include The Grass Dance, a book of poetry and prose, and The Alley of Wishes, which she insists is a fictional allegory. Colorof Laughter, Color of Tears is a full length book of poetry written in collaboration with another poet. Laurel enjoys reviewing novels and poetry. She currently reviews for New Works Review; The Pedestal Magazine; Quill Poetry Review Quarterly; and Midwest Book Review. She has written commentaries on Books and Writing for her publisher, Dandelion Books and MyShelf.com, and a dissertation on coping with grief and loss for The Bright Side. Laurel is somewhat of a ham so relishes her occasional stints as featured speaker at writing seminars.  Laurel and her husband currently live in Fairbury NE, but still consider Kerby Knob KY home because she loves the Appalachians and the plains in equal measure.

      Michael Corrigan brings his strengths as a published author, playwright, and educator to NWR's ranks. He writes: Any bio has to include the question, why write? What a ridiculous business. A writer's life can be a lonely business. As Hemingway said, "a writer faces eternity or the lack of it each day." Despite loneliness, writers can experience a joy that "normal" people can't imagine. I adapted the letters of a late writer friend, Rebecca Bruns, to a stage play. Born in New Orleans, she worked in San Francisco. We had known each other for twelve years and much of our relationship consisted of letters. Hers were articulate, poignant and heartfelt. When she died of cancer, I put the letters into a two person play, and the premiere in Ketchum, Idaho, gave her words flesh. The audience listened as Rebecca spoke through an actress giving her a voice. A woman came up to me after the show and said, "You must be so proud to celebrate your friend like this." Actually, I felt a bit depressed since the words couldn't replace Rebecca's warm presence, but it was some comfort to think a few people went home that night feeling the presence of this remarkable person who died too soon. The play, "Letters From Rebecca", is available through Aran Press for those who want to hear that special voice. His wife Karen passed away on September 12, 2005.

     Lynn Strongin was born in New York City in 1939 and was raised  in and   around  New York. She lived in California during the  politically   active Sixties and  worked, in Berkeley, for Denise Levertov.   During that turbulent period,  she also met Robert Duncan,   Josephine Miles, and Kay Boyle. She moved to Albuquerque,   New Mexico, in the Seventies, and to British Columbia in 1979 where, for the past twenty-five years, she has made her home. Strongin’s books include The Dwarf Cycle (Thorp Springs Press), Toccata of the Disturbed Child (Fallen Angel Press ), A Hacksaw Brightness (Ironwood Press), and Countrywoman / Surgeon (L'Epervier Press), all published in the Seventies, and Bones and Kim a Novella (Spinster's Ink Press, 1980). The European debut of Lynn Strongin's memoir Indigo has appeared in Storie , Rome Italy. Lynn serves as a Book Review Editor.

      Mike Burnett was one of NWR's key personnel during its early years. He   created the publication's design and did much of the Internet   troubleshooting. Mike has continued his Website design and host   through his company, Iconx.com. He is also well known as a   photographer of the exotic plants in his Houston, Texas garden.