Dr. Thea Iberall is an award-winning poet, storyteller, ghostwriter, editor, playwright, and scientist. She has had over 50 poems published in literary and on-line journals and anthologies including The Southern California Anthology, Spillway, poeticdiversity, and numerous other journals. Her poems about the Holocaust have been published in anthologies about the Holocaust. Thea was a semi-finalist in the Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition. In 2001, Thea began exploring how to combine her scientific training with her love of language and she developed a new art form called contextual poetry. Her first collection of contextual poetry The Sanctuary of Artemis: A Collection of Contextual Poems is published by Tebot Bach. With her excellent research skills, Thea wrote the play We Did It For You which is about women's journey through history and how they got their rights in the United States. Her play At Seven was performed by the Toledo Repertory Company, and her Primed for Love had a run at the Eclectic Company Theatre. She has a Ph.D. in neuroscience (UMass) and a Master’s degree in writing from USC.

 

Writer's Statment

Writing a poem is like trying to tell a story in as short a space as possible using as many dimensions as possible. It has the essence of a moment without any unnecessary words. It is told with sound, texture, images, metaphor, structure, and rhythm. I memorize my poems so that I hear every nuance of each dimension. Someone said I take a huge subject and bring it down to one word. I love watching the audience's eyes as they connect with my stories and I make them laugh and cry in the same breath. --Thea Iberall

 

 

What other writers say about Thea:

"Thea's ability to clearly communicate allowed me to ascertain where I was going. I found her direction and suggestions helpful and inspiring." - Shirley Riga, writer

"She tells narrative stoires using simple words that mask hidden layers of meaning and emotion." -- OC Weekly

"Thea creates a shimmering bridge between matter and spirit, heart and head, poet and world." - Gayle Brandeis, author

"Thea Iberall offers a multi-century parade of feminine genius and courage and does it with humor and fun." - Paul Williams, award-winning songwriter

"No words of praise seem worthy after watching the performance of your show. Powerful, moving, poignant, a must see." - Charles Redner, poet, publisher

"I started reading The Sanctuary of Artemis before I went to bed and got into the contexts and almost couldn’t go to sleep. It is fabulous, I can’t wait to read more." - Lillian Michelson

"I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying "The Sanctuary of Artemis"!! It certainly is not your ordinary poetry! It's such a unique idea and could have been written only by you! What a talent you are and I am so glad to know you just for this book alone." - Beverly Tazelaar