Thursday, October 8, 2009

Ohio Poet(s) of the Year


On Ohio Poetry Day, Terry Hermsen and Stephen Haven will be named the (co) Ohio Poet of the Year*.

Congrats to them both!

Stephen Haven will be reading at the Ohio Poetry Day celebration at Mount Union College in Alliance, on October 17.

Stephen Haven, a professor at Ashland University, was chosen for his book Dust and Bread. (For a review, and some sample poems, look here). He is also the author of one earlier collection of poems, The Long Silence of the Mohawk Carpet Smokestacks, and of a memoir, The River Lock: One Boy’s Life along the Mohawk**.

Terry Hermsen, on the other hand, won't be at the Ohio Poetry day celebration-- but he's got a good excuse: he is currently doing a poetry residence in Chile! Hermsen was chosen for his book The River's Daughter, from Bottom Dog Press. Hermsen lives in Delaware, and teaches at Otterbein College. He is the author of several previous books of, and about, poetry.


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* This is the fifth time in the last 30 years that the poet of the year award is split between two Ohio poets.
**A review of
The River Lock: One Boy’s Life along the Mohawk, from Contrary Magaine, can be found here.


1 comment:

Rob Smith said...

Congratulations to both these fine poets! I was fortunate to attend one of the readings that Terry presented in the area (thanks to Bottom Dog).

Cited...

The poet doesn't invent. He listens. ~Jean Cocteau