Millennium Magazine_4th Ed

36 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine ARTS, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT J erilyn Elise Miripol has exhibited profound creativity since she was a child, particularly within the areas of piano and poetry. Inspired by nature and social justice issues, she was drawn to writing poetry to combat the darkness and bring positivity to light. Earning a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Northeastern Illinois University in 1974, she attended four workshops including the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, through which Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Lisel Mueller asked to work with her at the University of Indiana. Later on, Ms. Miripol was accepted to the Bredlow Feeders Conference, where she worked with other writers in Middlebury, Vermont, as well as the Aspen Writers Workshop, a prominent workshop that accepted only six people per session. Most recently serving as a writing therapist at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, Illinois, from 1989 to 2015, Ms. Miripol found great pleasure in working with patients who were mentally disabled, finding the experience to be most rewarding. Prior appointments to her credit have included teaching creative writing at Oakton Community College and being a writing therapist at the Northshore Retirement Hotel. Likewise, she was an artist-writer-in- residence at the Dawes School and the Evanston Township High School. Since 1987, she has continued to serve as a writing facilitator for students in Chicago. A prolific writer and poet in her own right, Ms. Miripol has authored two books, titled “Discovering Self-Awareness through Poetry” and “The Sounds Were Distilled,” which can be purchased on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. She is also in the midst of publishing a book in Canada, titled “Disc of the Moon.” Among the notable highlights of her career, Ms. Miripol is proudest of accepting a fellowship at the Ragdale Foundation in 1985, a writers’ colony that accepts few people per session. She is grateful to have been mentored by numerous prominent figures in poetry such as Roald Hoffman, Lisel Mueller and Walter Buckman. She is a member of the National Organization forWomen, PEN International, the ACLU, Amnesty International, the Academy of American Poets, UNICEF and the National Association for Poetry Therapy. JERILYN ELISE MIRIPOL POET, WRITER, WRITING THERAPIST, PIANIST St. Francis Hospital Wilmette, IL Millennium Magazine Featured Listee