Paul B. Janeczko

Paul B. Janeczko (1945–2019) was an American poet, anthologist, and longtime teacher best known for his influential poetry anthologies and instructional books for young readers and educators. Born in Passaic, New Jersey, he earned an A.B. in English from St. Francis College in Biddeford, Maine, in 1967 and an M.A. from John Carroll University in 1970, and spent more than two decades teaching high school English and language arts in Ohio, Massachusetts, and Maine before becoming a full-time writer and visiting lecturer. Over the course of his career he published more than forty books, including collections of his own poetry, anthologies, nonfiction, and guides for teachers and young writers.

Janeczko edited numerous widely recognized poetry anthologies for young people, including A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems, A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms, A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout, The Death of the Hat: A Brief History of Poetry, and Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems, as well as The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-To Poems. He also wrote notable nonfiction works such as **Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers,