Biography:

Poet; children’s author;  teacher of writing.  Born– August 25, 1946, in Bayside, Queens, New York City. Parents– Charles Vincent and Patricia (Pelletier) Ghigna. Married– Nancy Minnicks.  Children–one. Married–Debra Holmes, August 2, 1975.  Children–one. Education– Attended Edison Community College, 1964-1966; Florida Atlantic University, B.A., 1968; M.A., 1969; University of South Florida; Florida State University.  Taught high school English, Ft. Myers, Fl., 1968-1973; Edison Community College, 1973-74; Alabama School of Fine Arts, 1974-1993; Samford University, instructor in creative writing, 1979. . Free-lance writer after 1993. Published many works in anthologies and journals.   Editor of English Journal, 1974; creator, director, and performer in “Cabbages and Kings,” television series for Alabama Educational Television, 1976. Author of nationally syndicated feature “Snickers” for Tribune Media Services, 1993-98. Has given hundreds of readings at schools and colleges.  Received a Pulitzer Prize nomination, 1990; Helen Keller Literary award, 1993; First Prize, International Sakura Haiku Contest, 1993; Pick of the Lists, American Booksellers Association, 1994 and 1995. Performed his poetry at the Library of Congress in 1978 and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1984.

Source:

Contemporary Authors online

Publication(s):

The Alphabet Parade.  River City Publishing, 2002.

Animal Tracks:  Wild Poems to Read Aloud.  Harry N. Abrams, 2004.

Animal Trunk:  Silly Poems to Read Aloud.  Harry N. Arams, 1999.

Best of ‘Snickers’, Best of Times, 1994.

Circus Poems. Birmingham, Ala.; Creekwood Press, 1979.

Cockroach (one act play). S.l.; Contemporary Drama Service, 1977.

The Day I Spent the Night in the Shelby County Jail.  Best of Times, 1994.

Divers and Other Poems.  Creekwood Press, 1978.

Dylan the Smokey Dragon.  West and Baker, 2004.

Father Songs. Creekwood Press, 1989.

A Fury of Motion:  Poems for Boys.  Mills Press, 2003.

Good Cats, Bad Cats.  Hyperion, 1992.

Good Dogs, Bad Dogs.  Hyperion, 1992.

Haiku: The Travelers of Eternity.  River City Publishers, 2001.

Halloween Night: Twenty-one Spooktacular Poems.  Running Press Kids, 2003.

I See Fall.  Mankato, MN: Picture Window Books, 2012.

I See Spring.  Picture Window Books, 2012.

I See Summer.  Picture Window Books, 2012.

I See Winter.  Picture Window Books, 2012.

If You Were My Valentine.  Simon and Schuster, 2004.

Little Seeds.  Mankato, MN: Picture Window Books, 2012.

Love Poems.  Crane Hill Publishers, 1999.

Mice are Nice.  Random House, 1999.

My Country:  Children Talk about America.  Crane Hill Publishers, 2003.

Oh My, Pumpkin Pie!  Simon and Schuster, 2005.

One Hundred Shoes: A Math Reader.  Random House, 2003.

Plastic Soup: Dream Poems.  Black Belt, 1999.

Plastic Tears. Philadelphia; Dorrance, 1973.

Returning to Earth.  Livingston University Press, 1989.

Riddle Rhymes.  Hyperion, 1995.

See the Yak-Yak.  Random House, 1999.

Speaking in Tongues:  New and Selected Poems, 1974-1994.  Livingston University Press, 1994.

Stables; the Story of Christmas; Poems and Prints. Birmingham, Ala.; Creekwood Press, 1975.

Strange, Unusual, Gross, & Cool Animals.  New York:  Liberty Street, 2016.

Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose.  Hyperion, 1994.

Wings of Fire.  Druid, 1992.

Joint_Publications;

Christmas Is Coming.  Talewinds, 2000.

Editor:

Feathers and Steel; the Birmingham Student Poets. Birmingham Student Poets. S.l.; s.n., 19–.

Papers;

A collection of the papers of Charles Ghigna is held by the De Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.