Frank C. Modica is a cancer survivor and retired teacher from Urbana, Illinois, who taught children with special needs for over thirty-four years. When he isn’t writing poetry and flash fiction, he’s riding a bike or volunteering with various local agencies. His writing is animated by interests in history, geography, and sociology.  Frank’s short story “Homemade” was selected as an Honorable Mention in the Midway Journal 2017 -1000 Below Flash Prose and Poetry contest. His poem “Rainbow Bus” was the 2017 Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Transit District Poem Contest winner and was featured on all the local buses for a month.  His work is forthcoming or has appeared in Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Frost Meadow Review, Green Ink Poetry, Blue Mountain Review, and Raconteur Review. Frank’s first chapbook, “What We Harvest,” nominated for an Eric Hoffer book award, was published this past fall by Kelsay Books.