Education
Sampirisi graduated with an Master of Arts in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Windsor in 2006 where she studied with poets Susan Holbrook, Di Brandt, Margaret Christakos and Marty Gervais.
Sampirisi graduated with an Master of Arts in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Windsor in 2006 where she studied with poets Susan Holbrook, Di Brandt, Margaret Christakos and Marty Gervais.
She is the author of the novel is/was (Insomniac Press) and experimental poetry narrative Croak (Coach House ). She collaborated with Margaret Christakos and Rachel Zolf for a polyvocal, multimedia staging of Christakos" polyvocal performance of Orphans Fan the Flames and Zolf"s Masque. In 2007 she founded the visual poetry website OtherCl/utter, a place to play with language and image.
Sampirisi is the former Managing Editor of BookThug, where she also edited the Department of Narrative Studies imprint, focusing on innovative prose.
The school has featured workshops and performances by Philosophy Hall, Alice Notley, Anne Waldman and Anslem Berrigan among others Previously she was the Associate Director of the Scream Literary Festival, a festival of experimental poetry that was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1993 until 2011.
Sampirisi teaches English Literature, Creative Writing and Composition at Ryerson University. There, she works in the Spanning the Gaps: Bridges to Ryerson program, and the Ryerson University Now (RUN) program
These programs were developed based on the belief that education can break cycles of inter-generational poverty and social exclusion, and admit students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend university.
In 2011 she was nominated for the Dean"s Teaching Award for her work in these programs.