A long-time resident of Madison, Charles Cantrell retired from teaching English at Madison (WI) College in 2005. He has published two chapbooks: Cicatrix, and Greatest Hits 1978-2003. His poems have appeared in over 200 journals, including Poetry Northwest, The Literary Review, Prairie Schooner, Southern Poetry Review, and most recently in Confrontation, Soundings East, UCity Review, Free State Review, Mudfish and others. His work has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. His awards include several fellowships from Ragdale and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, grants from the Wisconsin Arts Board, and the 2011 Aga Shahid Ali Scholarship from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. An earlier version of his manuscript was a finalist twice in Four Way Books competition and a semi-finalist in the Samuel French Morse Award. The new version of his manuscript was semi-finalist in the UW’s 2016 Brittingham-Pollak Prizes.

For over ten years Ron hosted poetry readings as well as an open mic at Avol's Bookstore in Madison. His poems have appeared both on-line and in print journals. His manuscript, "The Office of Uncomfortable Admissions," received an honorable mention in the Concrete Wolf Chapbook Contest. Ron serves on the board of The Council for Wisconsin Writers, and sells used and out-of-print books on-line under the name Avol's Books LLC. If you have questions about the open mic, call Ron at 608-255-4730, or email him at avols@chorus.net.