Joseph Karasek grew up in New York City. He created school orchestras on the elementary and secondary levels, and taught music composition and music theory at Long Island University. He has lived in Pittsburgh, PA, since 1991, and now spends his winters in California. His poetry has been published in Blue Arc West: An Anthology of California Poets (Tebot Bach, 2006) and Along These Rivers: Poetry and Photography from Pittsburgh (Quadrant Press, 2009). He is the author of LOVE AND THE TEN THOUSAND THINGS (Tebot Bach, 2009) and BEYOND WAKING (Tebot Bach, 2010).