The Concrete Jungle and the Surrounding Areas, by Daniel Damiano

Poetry, chapbook, 52 pages, from Bottlecap Features. The Concrete Jungle and the Surrounding Areas contains both observational and personal poems from humorous and, at times, moving vantage points by Pushcart-Award nominated Poet Daniel Damiano. Some take aim at the unflinching reality of life in a formidable city, while others go further back to Damiano’s adolescent past. Within that span, the collection moves seamlessly from transportive odes on the absurdities of life, aging, childhood, survival, along with affectionate homages to the wildlife of the city. Some are about birds. One is about a moth. One is about two feral cats. And most contain the undeniable backdrop of New York City. DANIEL DAMIANO is an acclaimed Novelist, Award-Winning Playwright, Pushcart-nominated Poet and acclaimed Actor based in Brooklyn, NY, where he lives with his wife Judy and cat Chula. His first novel, The Woman in the Sun Hat, was published in 2021 by fandango 4 Art House and was a 2021 Seattle Book Review Beach Read Recommendation. This was followed by his first book of poetry, 104 Days of the Pandemic (2021) and his second novel, Graphic Nature (2022), also published by fandango 4 Art House. His acclaimed play Day of the Dog was published in 2018 by Broadway Play Publishing. His poetry has heretofore been published in Gyroscope Review, Curlew Quarterly, Quagmire Magazine, Crooked Teeth Literary Magazine, New Voices Anthology, Cloudbank, Newtown Literary Journal and HotMetal Press. He has been a finalist for the David Einhorn Memorial Playwriting Prize, the Arts & Letters Prize for Drama, the Woodward/Newman Drama Award, the Janet & Bruce Bunch Award, among others, and was the recipient of the Christopher Brian Wolk Award for Playwriting. He recently completed an acclaimed run of his solo play, One With the Current, which ran at 36th Street Studio Theatre in NYC. He also recently completed his third novel, Advice from a Cat. He along with his wife Judy Alvarez are co-founders of fandango 4 Art House, a NYC-based theatre and arts company focusing on new work and creative expression. www.danieldamiano.com