photo credit:

For many years, Joe Weil worked as a tool maker on the night shift at National Tool and Manufacturing in Kenilworth, New Jersey. While there, he became active as a shop steward and organizer in the teamster’s union. He grew up in a working class family that encouraged learning for the beauty of learning—not for material gain. Weil always wrote, and he read hundreds of books, while grinding tool bits, and negotiating labor contracts. Increasingly, he used his organizing skills on the poetry scene, founding a magazine called Black Swan which featured work by such noteworthy writers as Robert Creeley, Jan Richman, and Pablo Medina. He also ran an “urban environmental” magazine called Anti-Lawn which mixed poems and stories with articles about the environmental catastrophe of the American suburban life style—particularly the American lawn. His activism included a traveling reading series for food pantries called ‘The Can of Corn Traveling Poets Series.” From 1989 until 2004, he was the director of poetry at the Baron Art Center in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Weil also won two certificates of recognition from the NFAAA for his teaching in the arts. Weil’s poetry, essays, and stories have appeared in Big Scream, Red Brick Review, Poet Lore, The New Renaissance, Rattle, Paterson Literary review, The Louisiana Review of Literature, National Labor Forum, the New York Times, and Lips magazine, among others. He has been a five time Pushcart prize nominee, has appeared on PBS “Fooling With Words” special, and has also read on Pacifica and National Public Radio, Most importantly of all, Weil plays a fairly good piano.

LINKS:

Six poems by Joe E. Weil on NJPoet.com.