Roy Jacobstein's latest book of poetry A Form of Optimism (University Press of New England, 2006), won the Samuel French Morse Prize, selected by Lucia Perillo, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His previous book, Ripe (U Wisconsin 2002) won the Felix Pollak Prize, selected by Edward Hirsch. His poetry appears in many literary publications and is included in LITERATURE: Reading Fiction, Poetry & Drama (McGraw-Hill, 2006). A public health physician and former official of the U.S. Agency for International Development, he works in Africa and Asia on women's reproductive health programs and lives with his wife and daughter in Chapel Hill, N.C.