Eugene M. Gagliano

Eugene M. Gagliano (born May 14, 1946), known as the "teacher who dances on his desk," is an American writer and retired elementary school teacher from Niagara Falls, NY. He taught at an elementary school in Honoeye, New York for 4 years (1969-1973) before moving Wyoming. He then taught at two elementary schools in Buffalo, Wyoming for from 1973 to 2003. He is known for writing children's books that embed poetry and history in a way suitable to all ages. He is the current poet laureate of Wyoming.
Life
Eugene Gagliano was born in Niagara Falls, New York. He developed a love for nature and the outdoors during his early childhood in Niagara Falls. He was encouraged to start writing poetry in seventh grade, when his English teacher saw one of his poems and helped him to publish it in the school newspaper.

Gene has four children and six grandchildren and lives in Buffalo, Wyoming, with his wife, Carol, of nearly 50 years.
Career
In 1966, Gagliano received his A.A.S. degree in Ornamental Horticulture from the State University of New York at Cobleskill. In 1969, he received his Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education K-6 from the S.U.N.Y. at Geneseo. He then began teaching in 1969 at an elementary school in Honoeye, New York, where he taught for 4 years. In 1983, Gagliano graduated from the Institute of Children's Literature.
Gagliano's first published book, Secret of the Black Widow, was published in July 2002 by White Mane Press. This book got him selected as an IRA Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Award nominee for 2005-2006.
Gagliano's next book, C is for Cowboy, a Wyoming Alphabet, was published in 2003 by Sleeping Bear Press. Later that year, Gagliano published his third book to date, Inside the Clown. He then released his fiction book centered towards middle-aged children, Falling Stars. In 2005, Gagliano published his first adult poetry anthology, Prairie Parcels.
One years later, in May 2006, Gagliano published Four Wheels West, a Wyoming Number Book. This is the sequel to C is for Cowboy, a Wyoming Alphabet, and was nominated for the Western Writers Spur Award. In 2009, two of his books were published: V is for Venus Flytrap, a Plant Alphabet and My Teacher Dances on the Desk, both being kid-oriented poetry books. His last two books, Dee and the Mammoth and The Magic Box, were published in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

In 2012, one of Gagliano's short stories, "You'll Be Good for Him," was published in Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul.
Awards
Gagliano has won numerous contests and awards for his work. These include:
* First place in the 1999 Children's Writers Fiction Contest
*Recipient of the Wyoming State Historical Society Award for fiction for his book Dee and the Mammoth.
Furthermore, Gagliano has presented and spoken at various conferences, such as:
* 38th Children's Literature Festival at Central Missouri State University in 2006
* Raising Readers in Wyoming in 2010
* College of Education Fall Literacy Conference in 2013 with sessions called "Encouraging Creative Writing in K-8 Classrooms" at the University of Wyoming,
* Wyoming Geographic Alliance Conference in 2017.

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