Heights Arts Seeks Applications for 12th Heights Poet Laureate

From our friends at Heights Arts in Cleveland Heights:

Heights Arts, a multidisciplinary arts organization in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is excited to announce the selection process for the cities’ 12th Poet Laureate for a two-year term beginning April 2025 through March 2027. This upcoming term coincides with Heights Arts’ 25th anniversary. 

The Heights Poet Laureate will receive a yearly stipend and participate in civic and community events, as well as manage Heights Arts’ popular Ekphrastacy – Artists Talk and Poets Respond series throughout their tenure. 

History: The Cleveland Heights Poet Laureateship, established in 2000 by Heights Arts to celebrate and elevate poetry as an essential art form for the community, is the first and longest-running laureateship in the state of Ohio. In 2023, with the endorsement of both Cleveland Heights and University Heights, the laureateship expanded to become the Heights Poet Laureateship. Every two years, Heights Arts’ staff along with the Heights Writes Community Team of volunteers with expertise in the literary arts and the Heights community solicit applications to select a poet from the Cleveland area for this honor. 

“We were thrilled to join Cleveland Heights in the Heights Poet Laureate program,” says University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan, “... and I look forward to our participating in the program going forward. University Heights is committed to supporting the arts. Adding poetry to our city events has been inspirational and has helped bring residents together.” 

The current Poet Laureate, Siaara Freeman, is a dynamic voice in the Cleveland poetry scene, a 2023 Room in the House fellow with Karamu Theater. Freeman is also a 2022 Catapult fellow with Cleveland Public Theater. Her accolades include the 2021 Premier Playwright fellowship with Cleveland Public Theater, the 2020 WateringHole Manuscript fellowship, and being a four-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize. Freeman’s work has appeared in The Journal, Josephine Quarterly, Cleveland Magazine, and other notable publications. She has gained recognition for her viral poems and has toured both nationally and internationally. 

The meeting will be posted on the Heights Arts website for those who cannot attend. Applicants for the laureateship must commit to serving the full 24-month term if selected and must either be residents of Cleveland Heights or have a significant connection to the communities. Applications will be accepted from November 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024. Detailed information and the application can be found at Heights Arts Poet Laureate.

December 14th: Open Mic Sharing in Sandusky

You're invited to this sharing on poetry's relevance in your and our lives.

Sandusky is 55 minutes west and worth the drive. 

December 3rd: Think Forum - An Evening with Billy Collins in Cleveland

Tuesday 3 December 2024 at 7:30 p.m., see former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins at the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center, 1855 Ansel Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106.

Billy Collins is an American phenomenon. No poet since Robert Frost has combined high critical acclaim with such broad popular appeal. His work has appeared in a variety of periodicals including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The American Scholar. Collins has published twelve collections of poetry that have led to numerous awards including the Mark Twain Award for Humor in Poetry. Collins was named New York State Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006 after serving as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001-2003. Collins’ newest book, Water, Water: Poems, will be released in November 2024.

Book signing immediately following the lecture.

Get your FREE tickets at https://case.edu/maltzcenter/calendar-events/concerts-events-silver-hall/think-forum-evening-billy-collins.