Poetry Rising

 Life is full of such ironies...Here's one of mine.

Groundhog

We are reading "The Groundhog,"
when Leroy calls from the
back of the room:
"Them make good eatin,'"
killing my joke about road kill.
I had hit one an hour ago
on West Lake Road, and the mess
Is still on my mind and shoes.
Connie's face tells me so as did
the sour smell of dead flesh.
"Ever get one from the road?"
she dares to ask. He turns to me,
"Sure have, if it's fresh," he grins.
"Only way to describe its taste
is to eat it fresh," he says, sending
a shutter up the rows.
"Meat's not as dark as racoon," he adds
for no one's sake. As for me,
class is over and I say so
and begin taking off my shoes,
when he turns at the door,
"Lotsa fat, you know, but never greasy."
I turn my choke into a nod, as he
says again, "Them make good eatin.'"

(Best line of poetry this year.)

Larry

Poetry Rising

Life is full of such ironies...Here's one of mine.

Groundhog

We are reading "The Groundhog,"
when Leroy calls from the
back of the room:
"Them make good eatin,'"
killing my joke about road kill.
I had hit one an hour ago
on West Lake Road, and the mess
is still on my mind and shoes.
Connie's face tells me so as does
the sour smell of dead flesh.
"Ever get one from the road?"
she dares to ask. He turns to me.
"Sure have, if it's fresh," he grins.
"Only way to describe its taste
is to eat it fresh," he says, sending
a shutter up the rows.
"Meat's not as dark as racoon," he adds
for no one's sake. As for me,
class is over and I say so
and begin taking off my shoes,
when he turns at the door,
"Lotsa fat, you know, but never greasy."
I turn my choke into a nod, as he
says again, "Them make good eatin.'"

(Best line of poetry this year.)

Larry

Ray McNiece Awarded Fellowship by Academy of American Poets

Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate Ray McNiece
[photo by Herb Ascherman]

The Academy of American Poets announced that it is awarding a combined total of $1.1 million to its 2022 Poet Laureate Fellows. These 22 individuals, each of whom will receive $50,000, have been named poets laureate of states, cities, and counties, and have made positive contributions to their communities in these roles and beyond. Funds will support their respective public poetry programs in the year ahead as presented in their proposals to the Academy. In addition, the Academy will provide a total of $72,200 to eight local 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that have agreed to support the Fellows’ proposed projects.

 

Ray McNiece, Poet Laureate Fellow, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 

Ray McNiece is the author of several collections, including Breath Burns Away (Red Giant Press, 2019). The recipient of the Cleveland Arts Prize Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, he works for both the Ohio Arts Council Arts in Education Residency Artist program and the Center for Arts Inspired Learning of Northeast Ohio. In collaboration with Heights Arts, McNiece will organize the “Poem for Cleveland Project” and create a mosaic of Cleveland voices through intergenerational and multicultural poetry workshops. These will be monthly community-based workshops established with the help of partner organizations that pair youth poets with elders to tell the story of Cleveland. The workshops will feature prompts of place created by youth poets and serve as a template to be shared virtually by the Center for the Book to help other Ohio communities create similar programs. The project will serve as a bridge between cultures, generations, and neighborhoods. It will conclude with an intergenerational reading and celebration at Cleveland Public Library’s main branch, sponsored by the Center for the Book and Heights Arts. An anthology of the work, Poem for Cleveland, will be published by Red Giant Press.

The 2022 Poet Laureate Fellows and the communities they serve are Emanuelee Outspoken Bean (Houston, TX), Cyrus Cassells (Texas), Andru Defeye (Sacramento, CA), Ashanti Files (Urbana, IL), B. K. Fischer (Westchester County, NY), Ashley M. Jones (Alabama), Holly Karapetkova (Arlington, VA), J. Drew Lanham (Edgefield, SC), Julia B. Levine (Davis, CA), Matt Mason (Nebraska), Airea D. Matthews (Philadelphia, PA), Ray McNiece (Cleveland Heights, OH), Huascar Medina (Kansas), KaNikki Jakarta (Alexandria, VA), Gailmarie Pahmeier (Nevada), Catherine Pierce (Mississippi), Rena Priest (Washington), Lynne Thompson (Los Angeles, CA), Emma Trelles (Santa Barbara, CA), Gwen Nell Westerman (Minnesota), Crystal Wilkinson (Kentucky), and Kealoha Wong (Hawaiʻi).

 

 

Literary Cleveland’s Inkubator Writing Conference: September 6 through 10

 

 

Do you write stories or poems? Want to learn more about fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry? Looking for ways to share your story or publish your work?  

 

Check out this free writing conference! 

 

Literary Cleveland’s Inkubator Writing Conference is one of the largest free writing festivals in the country. Free virtual panels September 6-8 will lead up to a two-day in-person conference at the Cleveland Public Library on September 9-10.

• Draft new writing with workshops in each genre

• Improve your craft with talks by expert authors

• Connect with fellow writers and publishers at events, readings,
  and a book fair

• Learn how to publish your work with sessions on finding an agent,
  developing a book proposal, and submitting to journals

Whether you are new or experienced, dedicated or curious, and even if you don't consider yourself a writer—you should attend! In addition to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and publishing events, there are also sessions on starting a podcast, reviewing books, posting about books on YouTube, dealing with impostor syndrome, and much more.

This conference is free to attend but registration is required. Register today before workshops fill up!

View the full schedule and register for free at: https://inkubator.litcleveland.org/ 

 

Two important books on Cleveland Poetry Scenes

 

Two important books on Cleveland Poetry Scenes

An anthology of writing by and about d.a.levy.

Chronology of his life and work, Biographical essays, Photographs, Interviews, Profiles, Statements, Letters, Art Work, Collage, Poems and Critical appreciations of his writing and art levy's “Cleveland Prints” Eight pages in full color.

Contributors: Ed Sanders, T.L. Kryss, rjs, Karl Young, Allen Frost, Joel Lipman, Kent Taylor, Mark Kuhar, Ingrid Swanberg, Larry Smith, Russell Salamon, John Jacob, Doug Manson, Michael Basinski, Jim Lang, and others.    

                                                 

Edited by Larry Smith & Mary E. Weems & Nina Freedlander Gibans

"Poetry has a long and living history in Cleveland, Ohio, and this examination of its past through the lens of its vibrant present is a treasure in and of itself. They are all here, the great ones who showed the way: Langston Hughes, d.a.levy, Alberta Turner, Robert Wallace, Daniel Thompson. They set the bar pretty high. But as the editors demonstrate, their sons and daughters carry on, bringing the word to the city's streets and universities, libraries and coffeehouses."  ~ Ron Antonucci

304 pages of Cleveland Poetry Scenes from 1945 to the Present. 6 x 9 with over 50 photographs of people and places from the times. Includes an anthology of 40 key Cleveland poets with bio and statements from each.

Here's the link to order: Cleveland Poetry Scenes

https://smithdocs.net/best_selling_anthologies__cleveland_poetry_scenes

Cleveland Concrete

Check out this karl kempton essay elucidating some important Cleveland history in the field of concrete poetry.

"This article brings to light a group of individuals in Cleveland, Ohio out of which came the first American anthology of concrete poetry, cleveland concrete," published by rjs in 1966.

Read the entire piece at https://synaptry.blogspot.com/2021/12/synapse-essay-eleventh-cleveland.html.

An example of concrete poetry by Russell Atkins
(image courtesy of Aldon Nielsen's blog)

2022-2023 William N. Skirball Writers Center Stage Series Lineup Announced

 

We are excited to announce the lineup for our 2022-2023 William N. Skirball Writers Center Stage Series! Get your subscription now!

Marlon James Tuesday, September 20, 2022 Barbara Kingsolver Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Jon Meacham Monday, November 7, 2022 Silvia Moreno-Garcia Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Jonathan Franzen Tuesday, April 11, 2023 Elif Batuman & Gary Shteyngart Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Tickets on sale now! Writers Center Stage is returning to the Maltz Performing Arts Center at Case Western Reserve University for the 2022-2023 season. Benefactor, Subscriber, and Virtual Subscription options are now available for purchase. View the benefits of each ticket option below. Single ticket options will be available for purchase in August. Get your subscription now! Benefactor Level: $275 Benefits (1) ticket for all (6) author events with flexibility to come in-person or live stream from home. Admission to an exclusive 2023-2024 season announcement party. Advanced access to PREMIUM seating. Invitation to a preshow Benefactor Reception with one author (pending state and local health guidelines). Hardcover copy of Barbara Kingsolver's new novel, Demon Copperhead. Hardcover copy of Jon Meacham's new biography, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle. Free parking at the Maltz Performing Arts Center. Subscriber Level: $175 Benefits (1) ticket for all (6) author events with flexibility to come in-person or live stream from home. Advanced access to PREFERRED seating Hardcover copy of Barbara Kingsolver's new novel, Demon Copperhead. Hardcover copy of Jon Meacham's new biography, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle. Virtual Subscription: $75 Benefits A ticket to live stream all six events. This does not include physical seats in the Maltz Performing Arts Center or physical books.

Questions? For general questions regarding the Writers Center Stage Series, please contact Hillary Walker via email at hwalker@cuyahogalibrary.org or by phone at 216.749.9491. For questions regarding Case Western Reserve University's ticketing page, please email mpacinfo@case.edu or call the box office at 216.368.6062.

About Writers Center Stage The 2022-2023 William N. Skirball Writers Center Stage Series is presented by the Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation and its academic partner Case Western Reserve University. Funds raised by this series support Cuyahoga County Public Library, the nation's top-rated library system for 12 consecutive years.

Presented by

 

Are You Mad As Hell? Submit!

 

Submit here: https://forms.gle/W7wnesKrs2oBttv87.

Brought to you by Simple Simons Press.

Gordon Square Review Hiring!

Gordon Square Review is hiring a paid Poetry Editor and a volunteer Social Media Editor. If you live in Northeast Ohio, you may apply by July 10.

gordonsquarereview.submittable.com/submit

National Federation of State Poetry Societies Convention: June 23-26 in Columbus

 

You now have until June 19th to register for the National Federation of State Poetry Societies Convention that is happening in central Ohio on June 23rd through 26th, hosted by the Ohio Poetry Association. 

Hanif Abdurraqib will be their convention Keynote speaker. If you can't attend in person, there is also an option to attend virtually.

More info: https://www.ohiopoetryassn.org/nfsps-2022-convention.

I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing: Ohio's Appalachian Voices

On June 11th, the Cuyahoga County Public Library will host a reading by contributors to the new I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing: Ohio's Appalachian Voices anthology (edited by Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour and published by Sheila-Na-Gig). This reading will take place online and we'd love for you to tune in. 

Registered participants will also have the option of attending in-person at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch to watch the event on a large screen.

Please register here to attend.

Lit Youngstown's 2022 Fall Literary Festival!

Registration is now open for this year's Fall Literary Festival hosted by Lit Youngstown. For more information and to take part, please visit lityoungstown.org/fall-literary-festival-2022.

 

Jawbone Poetry Festival - May 6th through 8th in Kent

From our friends at The Jawbone:

Once again as always been, the Jawbone is calling forth poets to gather and sing.  Friday May 6^th through Sunday May 8^th.  Please come!  Bring your ears and your mouth and your heart and bring your words and your songs.  Bring your poems poets.  Again, we gather and sing.

 

Attached is a flyer. Please forward it to the unknown poet who we must reach. And print it and tape it to your back windshield and print some more and nail them to every telephone pole between your place and Topeka.

 

Also, send your poem for the 2022 Jawbone Book!  We will gather our voices in print.  To be included in the printed gathering, please send your poem by April 28.  All poems welcome, prayers and manifestos, too.  Do not include your credentials but do include your name.  Best to attach Word or PDF file.  All mistakes in production are mistakes in production.  The theme in this year's book will the theme in this year's book.

 

Send your poem to 22TheJawbone@gmail.com no later than Thursday April 28.

 

Send questions, comments, advice to one or all of the following:

Robert "RC" Wilson   rcwilsonii@gmail.com

LuAnn Csernotta    luanncsernotta@att.net

David Hassler    dhassle1@kent.edu

Steve Skovensky   sskovensky@gmail.com

 

SPRING. May 6^th 7^th 8^th.  2022.  All welcome.  Come to the river.  Bring everyone.  Includes you.  Every canoe, all wagons, to Kent.   Bring poems.   Follow the singing.

 

Here's the Jawbone schedule:

 

Dedication

                Friday at 4pm – dedication of a Maj Ragain poem & Jessica Damon painting

                               KSU Library, Wick Poetry Corner

Open Reading

                Friday May 6^th  8pm – Last Exit Books

                                124 E Main Street, Kent

Poet's Pie & Coffee

                Saturday May 7^th  11am-2pm – Standing Rock Gallery

                                300 North Water, Kent 11:00-2:00.

Open Reading

                Saturday May 7^th  2pm – John Brown Tannery

                                Along Cuyahoga River, Stow Street, Kent

Open Reading

                Saturday May 7^th  8pm – Last Exit Books

                                124 E Main Street, Kent

Poetry Potluck

                Sunday May 8^th  2pm – Fred Fuller Park

                                Pavilion 5,  Middlebury Road, Kent