Michael has been writing and performing poetry and fiction for over 20 years. In this time he has become a fixture in the performance poetry community in Cleveland, Ohio. His work has appeared in dozens of literary journals published across the US and Canada, including Poetry Magazine, Sapphire Magazine, Taproot, the Detroit Metro Times and the Cleveland Free Times.

Five time captain and coach of the Cleveland Slam team that represented the city at the National Poetry Slam competition, he has also served as a consultant to Poetry Slam, Inc., the governing body of Poetry Slams across the country. He is the founder and director of the Nova Lizard project, a seminal performance troupe in Cleveland, Ohio. He has also been the organizer of innumerable poetry events throughout the city, including events at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Hessler Street Fair. His latest publication, They call it Fishing not Catching, was published by Word Smith Press of Ann Arbor in the spring of 2004. He has taught workshops in colleges and high schools, including Oberlin, Muskinghum, Kent State, Bowling Green and Case Western Reserve Universities. He was a featured author at the Writer's Week program of Fremd High School (considered the model for such programs in the country) in Chicago and the instructor/coach for the Case Western Reserve University National College Poetry Slam Team. He is a frequent presenter at national, state and local teacher conferences offering professional development ideas for upper school teachers. Salinger has served on the board of directors of Cleveland Public Theatre and the Poet's and Writer's League of Greater Cleveland and has served a juror for the Cleveland Performance Art Festival. He currently lives in Mentor, Ohio. He runs the Classic Cleveland Poetry Slam.  You can read more of his poetry at www.michaelsalinger.com