Bio
Lisa DeVuono is a poet and printmaker living in Ambler.
Recently retired, she has worked as a librarian in a variety of medical and community-based settings, most recently with the Cheltenham Township Library System, creating and promoting adult programs.
She was a poetry therapy facilitator working with cancer patients, teens in recovery and with members of various Clubhouse organizations. She wrote a peer-based curriculum Poetry as a Tool for Recovery: An Easy-to-Use Guide in Eight Sessions for use in organizations working with persons living with mental health challenges. This served as the basis of a full training module taught by John Fox, author and founder of the Institute for Poetic Medicine. She was a creativity coach for the Artist Conference Network, a nationwide coaching community for artists of all kinds.
She was one of the founders of It Ain’t Pretty, a women’s writing collective that performed locally. She produced multi-media shows incorporating song, music, poetry, and dance, including Rumi in Song at the Sedgwick Theater; and Whole Heart Home, and Breaking Open Breaking Free, part of the IceHouse Tonight series in Bethlehem.
She also co-facilitates workshops and performances with her husband Michael London with his musical interpretation of the poems of Rumi.
In addition to the full-length manuscript This Time Roots, Next Time Wings, her poetry has appeared in the Mad Poets Review, Paterson Literary Review and the anthology Grit Gravity & Grace: New Poems about Medicine and Healthcare. She is the author of the chapbook Poems from the Playground of Risk published by Pudding House Press and was the recipient of an honorable mention in Passaic County Community College’s annual Allen Ginsberg Contest.
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Poetry Presentations and Workshops
- ALS Association, Greater Philadelphia Chapter
- American Cancer Society Survivors Conference, Philadelphia, PA
- ECRI, Plymouth Meeting, PA
- Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital, MS Wellness Program, Allentown, PA
- Indian Valley Women's Business Club
- Institute for Poetic Medicine: annual writing and wilderness retreat in Canyon de Chelley, AZ
- Lansdale Women's Club, Lansdale, PA
- Lehigh Valley Hospital
- Living Room Yoga, Emmaus, PA
- Margaret Roper Forum, Villanova, PA
- Main Line Unitarian Church, Devon, PA
- National Association for Poetry Therapy Conferences
- Organizational Business Teachers’ Conferences
- Pennsylvania Clubhouses: Philadelphia, Upper Darby, Sellersville, Chester, Lehigh Valley
- Philadelphia Folksong Society
- The Philadelphia Area Clubhouse Recovery Conference
- Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest
- Unitarian Church of the Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem, PA
- Unitarian Church of Berks County, Reading, PA
- Unity of the Lehigh Valley, Emmaus, PA
- The Wellness Community of the Lehigh Valley
- The Wellness Community of Philadelphia
- Wharton School, University of PA
- Wordsworth Center Intensive for Poetry Therapists, Washington DC
Public Performances
IceHouse Tonite! Series in Bethlehem PA
Produced two multi media shows Broken Open, Breaking Free & Whole Heart Home, a benefit for The Lodge in Bethlehem, PA
Libraries, Bookstores and Arts Centers:
- Libraries: Elkins Park, Haverford, Indian Valley, Northeast Regional
- Robin’s Bookstore, Borders Books and Music, Barnes & Noble, Main Point Books
- Manayunk Arts Center (special readings: “Recovering Catholics”; Poetry and Healing),
- Berks Bards, Main Line Art Center, The Philadelphia Meditation Center, Touchstone Theater, Emmaus Arts Commission Dedication, Greenshire Arts Consortium
Radio: Bloomsburg Radio, Muhlenberg Radio, WXPN Radio/Writer’s House, Philly Folk Scene
Other: Delaware County Women’s Prison, Main Line Unitarian Church, College of Physicians, Mermaid Inn, One Thousand Poets for Change
Publications and Awards
This Time Roots, Next Time Wings, c2023
Poems from the Playground of Risk; Pudding House Press, c2004
Poetry as a Tool for Recovery: An Easy-to-Use Guide in Eight Sessions; Institute for Poetic Medicine, c2014
Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award: Honorable Mention
The Mad Poets Review
Paterson Literary Review
Spiritual Directors International Newsletter: Honorable Mention
Schuylkill Valley Journal
Clay on Main, Oley, PA: Two poems selected on theme of “home” for a poetry mural exhibit
and included in bilingual anthology of English and Pennsylvania Dutch German.