About Me

 Ruth Van Alstine has been writing poetry since a young age, and has seriously pursued a writing career for the past thirty years. She has had poems published in national and international anthologies including The Henry Bunner Anthology, Harriet Spofford: An Anthology in Memoriam from Bristol Banner Books, The Parnassus of World Poets Anthology, the Florida State Poets Association: Anthology Thirty-Four 2016, and Cadence Anthology Thirty-Five 2017 to name a few. She has previously published the popular book of whimsical poems, “Fairies and Fantasies” in 1996 and “Shattered Moonbeams” in 2017. She is currently working on two anthologies, one an eclectic collection of poems about Florida; her experiences, observations and reflections of her forty years living in this unique and beautiful state of Florida, and also writing poems and stories inspired by experiences in the Jewish community and spiritual meditations and practices, which she hopes will one day become a book of poems to be shared with the world. There are many other pieces of work that are written along the way as inspired by life and the world she lives in that she adds to her large collection of poetic works.   
 

 Notably in the year 2000 she was nominated and accepted for inclusion in the  “Who's Who in America Millennium Edition” biography collection as an individual who had demonstrated outstanding achievement overall in her field of endeavor (poetry and writing) and as an outstanding contributing member of her community. Along with working within the literary community and writing she was also very active and participated and organized many public readings and performances in the literary scene of South Beach and Miami at coffee shops, art galleries and book shops. She was involved with local poetry groups up until the time she moved to California in 2000 where she lived until 2008.  While she lived in California she was very involved in the business community, served as a Chamber of Commerce Ambassador in San Jose, California and was involved in various charity groups. In 2008 she returned to Florida to lead a quiet life while living with her son and pursuing her writing and family genealogy research, making  jewelry (another creative outlet for her), a variety of other handcrafts and enjoying nature while camping in the various parks and wildlife  preserves in the Northeast Florida area.  In 2013 she renewed her public involvement with the local poetry and writing community, local and state poetry organizations.   
 

She is a member of the Ancient City Poets of St Augustine, Florida, the Florida State Poets Association, the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS), and the North Florida Poetry Hub, Jacksonville, Florida.