The VPR Poem of the Week is Jill Peláez Baumgaertner’s “How She Became a Ziegfeld Girl,” which appeared in the Fall/Winter 2001-2002 issue (Volume III, Number 1) of Valparaiso Poetry Review.
Jill Peláez Baumgaertner is the author of four collections of poetry, including Finding Cuba (Chimney Hill Press). In addition, she has edited a textbook on poetry and written a book of criticism, Flannery O’Connor: A Proper Scaring. Her poems are widely published in literary journals, and she has won numerous awards for her poetry, including the White Eagle Press’s chapbook competition award, the Rock River Poetry Prize, and the Goodman Prize in Poetry. She also received a Fulbright Fellowship to Spain. Baumgaertner is Professor of English at Wheaton College.
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