L.J. Sysko

“A valley girl Beowulf.”

That’s what one reviewer called American Feminist poet L.J. Sysko. Her debut full-length collection THE DAUGHTER OF MAN was selected for the Miller Williams Poetry Series by Patricia Smith and published by University of Arkansas Press in 2023. THE DAUGHTER OF MAN is “goddam funny” and “a clinic in irony,” said poet Ross Gay, and Publishers Weekly wrote, “this whip-smart collection is a playful celebration of feminine power.” Sysko’s work has been anthologized in BEST NEW POETS and LET ME SAY THIS; published in BATTLEDORE, her chapbook about identity within early motherhood; and featured in publications such as Ploughshares, The Georgia Review, The Missouri Review's "Poem of the Week," and Mississippi Review. Sysko taught high school English for fourteen years, but she now writes professionally for Delaware State University President Tony Allen in the role of Director of Executive Communications. Contributing Editor at Tupelo Quarterly where her GenX-Meets-Proust interview series, “Be Kind Rewind,” appears, Sysko lives in Wilmington, Delaware with her family.