Chuck Joy, child, loved to read, read widely, as an adolescent even listening to music transcribed lyrics. High school senior won the Gold Key for English, 1969. Attended Fordham University, Rose Hill Campus, graduating with a BA (Sociology). Studied Medicine and Literature at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (1978). Started sending poetry around about 1980. Bogg, Medicinal Purposes. Showed up at poetry shows, Penn State Behrend-Erie, the Blue Planet Cafe, Meadville. More recently, co-created and hosted the weekly poetry event Poetry Scene at the Erie Book Store. He was a founding member and Chairman of the Erie County (PA) Poetry Initiative. In October 2017 Joy launched Poetry Night, a weekly poetry event at Calamari's 1317 State Street. On September 24, 2018 Chuck Joy was selected Erie County Pennsylvania Poet Laureate, he served two terms, lengthened by COVID, to October, 2021.

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Joy  hosted Poetry Night for over two years when the coronavirus epidemic closed that venue in March 2020. He participated with the biweekly virtual open mic hosted by the Erie Art Museum (hosted by Todd Paropacic) before approaching Blane Dessy, Director of the Erie County Public Library, with the idea of bringing live poetry back to a new venue, the Erie County Public Library, specifically in its Hirt Auditorium. Dessy not only agreed, but brought in CAM Erie to livestream the weekly event, now called Poetry Live! (hosted by Patric Nuttall), the videos remaining available on the CAM Erie Facebook Page, beginning in September 2020. An upsurge of the virus shut down the Library to live events after 11/19/20, and the weekly poetry event returned to a virtual basis on Zoom. The Library returned to live events but concluded the weekly poetry event in 2021. Mabel Howard, poet, producer, and entrepreneur stepped up and offered her venue, Cafe 7-10, to continue the weekly poetry open mic.

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Chuck has authored collections of poetry, most recently Vinyl (What Why Aesthetics, Erie PA). Also, Percussive (Turning Point, Cincinnati OH), poems selected for their narrative quality. Also, Theme of Line (Red Giant Books, Cleveland OH), poems to elucidate the use of line. Said the Growling Dog (Nirala Publications, New Delhi India), poems selected around location. Every Tiger Wants To Sing (Poets' Hall Press, Erie PA) a chapbook. All Smooth (Destitute Press, Buffalo NY) a tiny chapbook. Fun Poetry (Lulu.com) a larger collection. Key West Quartet, Edinboro Book Arts Collective. The Opposite of Gifts is a chapbook released in 2018 from Heyman! Productions. 

 

Chuck's poems have appeared in Great Lakes Review, Ampersand Review, Crisis Chronicles, Lilliput Review, Chiron Review, Tobeco, JAMA, Intentionalwalkreview.com, Cotyledon, Rattapallax, Tempus, Mediphors, guide to kulchur, 2 Bridges, Foundlings, and others, as well as in anthologies edited by Jack Coulehan, John Graham-Pole, Berwyn Moore, and Sean Thomas Dougherty. Joy has presented his poems from stages at Poe’s Café, Cuppaccino's, 1000 French, Poets’ Hall, the Woodlawn Diner, Dog Ears Book Store, every Snoetry, the Confluence, Blue Cat Stew, the Hessler Street Fair, Karma Koffee, Mac's Backs, Baybreeze Lounge, Authors Books, Poetry In The Park, Poetry Park, Mahall's 20 Lanes, the Saturn Series, Cornelia Street Cafe, and the Orange Bear. His 1999 appearance with Robert Dunn on Poet to Poet is availale on Youtube.

 

A child psychiatrist, Dr. Chuck was co-chair of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Art Committee and poetry coordinator for the AACAP News. He has presented workshops featuring poetry at AACAP and American Psychiatric Association annual meetings, and at the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (1978), completed specialty training at Warren State Hospital and West Virginia University.

 

Chuck is a member of the International Family of Poets and Spoken Word Artists, also the Italian American Writers Association. Joy was guest poet with the Italian American Studies Association. He was a member of the Second Tuesday Community Poetry Workshop, Mercyhurst University.

 

A poet who enjoys working with music, Chuck had the opportunity to perform regularly with Kurt Sahlmann as Enhanced Poetry. Their CD Live at the Jive is available from CDBaby.com. He has shared the stage with many other musicians including George Stabile, Kenny Hollis, Dick Thompson, Steve Trohoske, Jimmy Cuneo, Tito Ronzitti, Mikel Prester. Chuck has appeared on radio shows hosted by Paul Rogers, Gary Finney, Rob Hoff, Michael Bennett.

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Chuck Joy has produced a series of theatrical literary events: Dreamville, at the Erie Art Museum, his poems read by a cast of poets. Silver Creek, also at the Erie Art Museum, a one-poet show. We Make It Easy at Directors' Circle Theatre, a one act play. Helping Ricky, a full evening of theatre. All Aboard, at the Erie Playhouse, poetry features. Pure Doctor, a collection of Chuck's poems themed to a medical perspective and read by a diverse cast, at PACA, Erie. He produced and appeared in Exploring The Border, Music and Words, a poetry and song collective including poets Kim Noyes, Ellis Crockett, Monica Igras.

 

Chuck Joy lives in Erie PA USA, with his wife Dawn and their dog Hunter, their children, Nicole, Veronica, and Greg, all grown up.

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