God Must Be a Boogie Man

Nancy Klepsch decided to go to college after watching her mother type envelopes for a penny a piece in the late 60s. Her poems have been published in The Altar Collective, Sinister Wisdom, Oberon, 13th Moon, and Chronogram among others, and online on Barzakh and Albany Poets. She has a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in education. She is the co-host of the Second Sunday @ 2 open mic for poetry and prose in Troy, NY, and is the co-founder of Riverside Community Press. Klepsch's first public installation and art-in-public places piece was called Words in Transit and was installed from 2001 through 2008 at Albany International Airport. Words in Transit was a site-specific installation of spoken words by a diverse group of regional poets. Imprinted directly on the baggage carousels, Klepsch's poem, "Circle" was meant to be read in its entirety, in "couplets", or in a single line, as passengers waited for their bags to arrive. In 2002, Klepsch created "about this building." Her poem "about this building/all buildings are equal" was printed on 12, 2' X 3' vinyl posters and mounted and installed on the exterior facade of an abandoned building on the corners of Sixth Avenue and Jay Streets (Troy, NY), near the entrance to 787N, reaching approximately 575 cars daily. The project was made possible through an Arts Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. In 2003, her poem "Letter to a prison guard from a teacher" was installed on an 8' X 10' teacher's blackboard at The Arts Center of the Capital Region in its exhibition called Day Job. The poem was handwritten in chalk. Said Metroland's David Brickman (Jan. 15- 21, 2004), "Her tender poem to a girl in trouble, handwritten in chalk on a large blackboard, has an emotional resonance and a physical presence that transcends the confines of the medium." From 2004 through 2008, Best Wishes was a site-specific poetry installation designed to convey an international travel diary, a blessing and a glimpse at a glorious weekend. It was installed on the rubber parts of three separate baggage carousels in the baggage claim area of Albany International Airport. These poems could be read in parts or whole as travelers waited for their bags. Klepsch's Breathing These Words was also the lead project funded by Breathing Lights. She led a group of neighbors and another local poet, and offered poetry workshops about vacant buildings and the importance of community and neighborhoods to youth and senior citizens. god must be a boogie man is Klepsch's first book of poems. She lives in Troy, NY with her wife, Lauren Pinsley, and her dogs, Eli and Stella.