Elaine Pentaleri
About Elaine
Elaine Pentaleri lives in rural Vermont on 22 acres of field, woodland, and stream. A feminist, spiritualist, outdoor enthusiast, and active reader and writer of poetry, Pentaleri has a particular interest in cultivating dynamic literary communities and bringing publishing opportunities to life. Pentaleri served as board co-chair of The Burlington Writers Workshop from 2018- 2021, where she managed the various aspects of the organization and worked to provide writers with free learning opportunities that help them develop as writers.
As co-chair of Burlington Writers Workshop, Pentaleri edited the international online literary publication Mud Season Review in 2020 and 2021 and she revitalized the Burlington Writers Workshops’ annual print edition of Cold Lake Anthology from 2018- 2022.
Pentaleri is the founder of The Green Mountain Book. Festival, inaugurated in 2022, an annual celebration of the literary arts in Burlington, Vermont.
Pentaleri’s poetry has appeared in various small presses and online publications.
Forthcoming from Finishing Line Press:
Dreamscape with Absinthe blurs the lines between dream and logic, preferring the former. Exploring the elusive nature of spirituality, the darkness of grief and despair, the complexities of sexuality and love, Dreamscape with Absinthe lands on the light, uplifting irony of letting go. With hints of Buddhism, feminism, and a connection with the natural world, these poems deliver a hopeful interpretation of the impermanence and intangibility of this worldly life.
Elaine’s forthcoming book Dreamscape with Absinthe will soon be released by Finishing Line Press. Pre-order is now available! A book launch will be scheduled in spring 2026.
Praise for Dreamscape with Absinthe:
Elaine Pentaleri’s Dreamscape with Absinthe is a richly patterned, hallucinogenic vision. “The question is how do we live our lives,” Pentaleri writes in “Without Gravity,” and her poems address this question with a generous amplitude of balms and possibilities—love, art, magic, and the pleasures of the material world in coexistence with the wisdom of what’s unseen. Pentaleri has the gift of noticing, and what she notices becomes a door to deepened understanding. These poems undertake as their project nothing less than “to move the earth,” and through spell-like force and music and their extraordinary turns, they just might do so.
Elaine Pentaleri’s collection, Dreamscape with Absinthe, unveils the simple beauty of the world in which we live with a light touch, both observant and alluring. Pentaleri gives us hope in small yet meaningful moments. Her precise and delicate language turns the ordinary into the sublime. A beautiful debut.
— Erika Nichols-Frazer, Writer & Editor
Dreamscape With Absinthe delivers what the title promises – explorations of edgy places between surrealistic dreams and new ways of seeing reality upon waking. These poems place us on a drawbridge where both dreamworlds and everyday life become visible. From there the poet wanders through time’s playground into the past. Or she may fly, one of the benefits of dreams. Backwards Yoj later becomes Joy. She understands impermanence, both in wind chimes and coastal maps changing with climate change. When the poet says she does not wish for a quiet life, you get it. Pentaleri offers whimsy and humor – she paints god’s wall with dayglow paint. Lyric reflections voice comforting reflections, “Tomorrow will come, /There will be breakfast, and things to be undone.”
— Tricia Knoll, Poet of Wild Apples and The Unknown Daughter
Acknowledgments
Anderbo.com, “Crepes”
Best of Burlington Writers Workshop, “Yoj”
Finishing Line Press, Dreamscape with Absinthe, full manuscript forthcoming 2025
New Millennium Writings, “Buddhist School of Cosmetology: Lesson One”
Off Channel, “Still Life,” “The Last of the Winter Laundry”
PhatSalmon Award, “Metamorphosis of Grief”
Randolph Poem Town Anthology 2024, Mrs. Bea
Randolph Poem Town Anthology 2025, Estelle, One Winter Afternoon
Sixty Four Best Poets by the Black Mountain Press, “Clenched Fist,” “The Trumpet Player,” and “Jolene” (published with a different title)
The Hooghley Review, Issue 4, Carmarthen to Paris 1978
ZigZagLit, “Apples,” “For Charly,” “Cake,” and “Bernoulli’s Theorem”
During her tenure as chair of the Burlington Writers Workshop, Pentaleri edited the international online literary publication Mud Season Review in 2020 and 2021. She revitalized the Burlington Writers Workshops’ annual print edition of Cold Lake Anthology from 2018- 2022.
In the summer of 2021, in collaboration with Burlington City Arts, Fletcher Free Library, and Phoenix Books, Elaine orchestrated the inception of the Green Mountain Book Festival. She created its bylaws, secured grant funding, and served on the board of directors for the festival’s first two years. Elaine helped to bring this dynamic festival to life, showcasing local artistry and promoting free expression in the Burlington community.
Elaine Pentaleri 