Laura Altshul is a Vassar College graduate with a Master's degree in Literature from NYU. She has taught in the Great Books program and in colleges, high schools, and elementary grades. She now tutors and serves on non-profit boards focused on providing educational and arts experiences for New Haven's children whose families don't ordinarily have access to these opportunities. Her first collection of poetry, Searching for the Northern Lights, appeared in 2015, her second, Bodies Passing, in 2017, and her third, Looking Out, in 2019, all from Antrim House. Although she has always written essays and stories, she turned to poetry in retirement. Her poems have been published in Connecticut River Review, Encore, Forgotten Women: A Tribute in Poetry, The Perch, Serving House Journal, Unlocking the Word: An Anthology of Found Poetry, Pulse, Our Changing Environment, The Circle, and Streetlight Magazine. Her poems have won prizes from The Connecticut Poetry Society, The Hamden Arts Commission, The New York Poetry Society, The Poetry Society of Michigan, The Tennessee Poetry Society, and The Utah Poetry Society. She was the featured poet in the half hour public television series Speaking of Poetry Episode 36, and has given readings throughout Connecticut. She co-leads the New Haven Chapter of the Connecticut Poetry Society with her husband, Victor Altshul. Together they have seven children and eleven grandchildren.
