Michael G. Khmelnitsky, Ph.D. (he / she)
Founder, Publisher, and Chief Editor
I am a neuroqueer poet and translator. I hold a B.A. Hons. from The University of British Columbia, an M.A. from University of Waterloo, and a Ph.D. from University of Calgary. I have been writing and translating poetry since 1996.
My poetry has appeared in print; however, I often felt that traditional publishing remains inequitable and insular. Although I created an online place for my poems, I soon realized that text demands physical presence and that I care deeply about how words look on the printed page.
In my past life as a graphic designer, I co-founded Dimension Six Digital in Vancouver and NagaKNOW in Matsumoto. The former permitted me to create visual identities for various cultural and artistic organizations between 2002 and 2010. The latter allowed me to discover how to frame storytelling when I laid out the bilingual magazine, took interviews, and co-wrote stories about life in the Nagano Prefecture together with local Japanese journalists.
My passion for typography and design led me to self-publishing my first poetry collection Granville, to creating my multimedia antipoem epic Go Fish, to conceiving my two large-format poems Silo 28 and Cathedral, and to compiling and publishing my second poetry collection, We Were Hateful People, and my fourth, The Love of a Good Man, forthcoming in 2024.
I have remained curious and passionate about technology and the written word (in fact, I have coded the very website you are reading—from scratch). Put together, my understanding of what makes a moving literary work, my technical ability, and my experience with teaching writing make me a reliable guide through the journey of getting your book of poems out into the world. It is also why I have founded JLRB Press. I look forward to reading your verse.