Sam Aureli

Sam Aureli is a design and construction professional, originally from Italy and now calling the Boston area home. A first-generation college graduate, he has spent decades immersed in concrete, steel, and the built environment, and today works full-time in real estate development. Poetry came to him later in life, emerging in his forties as a quiet but necessary way of making sense of memory, belonging, and loss. Influenced by poets such as Tomas Tranströmer, Charles Simic, Mary Oliver, and Jane Kenyon, his work often turns toward the natural world and the small, reflective moments that shape who we become.

His debut poetry collection, On the Edge of Knowing (Kelsay Books, 2026), explores memory, impermanence, and the relationship between self and landscape. His poems have appeared in The Berlin Review, Chestnut Review, The Bournemouth Journal, and other literary journals. He was the Grand Prize Winner in The October Project’s 2025 Poetry Contest, a Merit Award winner in The Atlanta Review 2025 International Poetry Competition, and a finalist for the Good Life Poetry HoneyBee Prize.