Otto Laske was born in what is now West Poland (Wroclaw/Breslau) three years before the onset of World War II. His first poetry emerged in German at age 15. After studies in music, the social sciences, and philosophy, Otto came to the U.S. as a student of music composition at New England Conservatory in 1966. Living in the U.S. led him at age to writing in English, which he continued into the middle 1990s. He turned from music to the visual arts when coming to Gloucester, MA, in 2010.
Otto’s writing practice was originally influenced by German expressionism. His artistic output is now part of the “Otto Laske Archive” comprising music compositions, animations, digital paintings and drawings at Texas State University, San Marcos.
Zvi A. Sesling, Brookline, MA Poet Laureate, has published poetry in numerous magazines both in print and online in ten countries. Sesling reviews for the Boston Small Press & Poetry Scene, is Editor of Muddy River Poetry Review. He is author of War Zones, The Lynching of Leo Frank, Fire Tongue and King of the Jungle, as well as two chapbooks, Love Poems From Hell and Across Stones of Bad Dreams. He has taught at Suffolk University, Emerson College and Boston University. He lives in Chestnut Hill, MA with his wife Susan J. Dechter.