Billie Jean Stratton is a 73-year-old farm girl who never liked the barn and spent much of her youth sidestepping hired hands by practicing the flute in an acoustically superior bathroom. She and John Montague worked together at The New York State Writers Institute for several years in the late 80s and early 90s, and she was fortunate to meet Joseph Brodsky when he first came to America. She’s been published in 2002's Comstock Review, 2005's Sulfur River, and 2014's Lost Orchard - Prose and Poetry from the Kirkland College Community. Resurfacing after many years, Billie’s poem “Brodsky” was recently published by Ibbetson St. Press and was nominated for a 2024 Pushcart Prize.
