Chameleon Chimera: An Anthology of Florida Poets is a unique collection of Florida poetry curated by Lenny DellaRocca. Each poet was invited to contribute and then nominated another poet. This collection traces a geographic line through Florida neighborhoods from Miami to Hollywood, to Surfside, to Saint Petersburg, to Jacksonville, to Tampa, to Palm Beach, to Apalachicola and beyond. The collection touches on eclectic subjects from Florida man, climate change, cigars smoked on Calle Ocho to sacred lemons. The collection includes some of the best American poets of our generation, including Richard Blanco, Denise Duhamel, Tyler Gillespie, Campbell McGrath, Geoffrey Philp, Maureen Seaton, Jessica Q. Stark, and Julie Marie Wade.
Lenny DellaRocca was the co-host of the poetry event, Poetry In A Pub, on the yacht, Livingstone's Landing. The yacht was sunk into the New River in Fort Lauderdale. He dubbed the poets who read at the event, The Boat Poets. His chapbook Things I See in the Fire won the Yellowjacket Chapbook contest. In 2016, DellaRocca started Interview With A Poet, which became the online journal, South Florida Poetry Journal-SoFloPoJo. He was nominated for two Pushcarts and is the curator of the anthology of Chameleon Chimera: an Anthology of Florida Poets. He invented the poetry form the Epoem, and is publisher and editor of Witchery. He has five poetry collections, and is published widely in print and online.
Yael Valencia Aldana is the author of the poetry collection Black Mestiza (University Press of Kentucky) and the chapbook Alien(s) (Bottlecap Press). She is the winner of the University Press of Kentucky New Poetry and Prose Series Prize 2023. She is the Founding and Editor of Purple Ink Press. Her work has appeared in Torch Literary Arts, Literary Mama, and Slag Glass City, among others. Her work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of The Net. She lives near the ocean with her son and too many pets.
Madison Whatley is a South Florida poet and 2023 graduate of Florida International University's MFA program, where she was the managing editor at Gulf Stream Magazine. Her poetry has appeared in Variant Literature, Cola Literary Review, Saw Palm: Florida Literature and Art, and various other journals. Her manuscript "Hotline Bimbo" was selected as a Semifinalist for the 2023 Berkshire Prize for a First or Second Book of Poetry by Tupelo Press. She is vice president of Purple Ink Press.
