Thursday, October 17, 2024

Barbara Sabol and Erica Reid named 2024 Ohio Poets of the Year

The Ohio Poetry Day Association has selected Barbara Sabol and Erica Reid as our 2024 Ohio Poets of the Year. Congratulations to these two amazing writers!


Barbara Sabol
was selected for her book of poems, WATERMARK: Poems of the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889
(Alternating Current Press, 2023)The poems in WATERMARK follow the path of the “great flood,” from the time prior to the perfect storm of events resulting in the disaster to the devastating aftermath and the reclamation of a bustling industrial city. The book is a poetic testimony of the great flood story through voices of the unidentified victims; their circumstances and lives imagined from morgue entries. The narrative also paints the backdrop of recovery and renewal, in the voices of survivors, telegraphers, aid workers, and historical figures such as Clara Barton. Watermark is a lyric narrative of this country’s largest and most dramatic flood of the 19th century, told from the perspective of those whose lives it claimed and those who lived to tell the tale. 

For more about the book, visit: https://altcurrentpress.com/2023/10/11/watermark/


Sabol is the author of six poetry collections, including WATERMARK. Her book, Imagine a Town, won the 2019 poetry manuscript contest by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions. She went on to become the associate editor of the journal, Sheila-Na-Gig online and edited the anthology, Sharing This Delicate Bread, featuring selected poems from the journal. Barbara co-authored a book of Japanese short-form poems with Larry Smith (Bottom Dog Press, 2023.) Her awards include an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, and she was named the Arts Alive 2024 Literary Artist. Barbara’s work has been nominated for the Pushcart, Best of the Net, and her haibun was short-listed for a Touchstone award. She conducts poetry workshops through Literary Cleveland and the Cuyahoga Falls Library. Barbara lives in Akron, Ohio with her bird artist husband and wonder dog.


Erica Reid
was selected for her book of poems, Ghost Man on Second (2024, Autumn House Press), which traces a daughter’s search for her place in the world after estrangement from her parents. Reid writes, “It’s hard to feel at home unless I’m aching.” Growing from this sense of isolation, Reid’s stories create new homes in nature, in mythology, and in poetic forms—including sestinas, sonnets, and golden shovels—containers that create and hold new realizations and vantage points. Reid stands up to members of her family, asking for healing amid dissolving bonds. These poems move through emotional registers, embodying nostalgia, hurt, and hope. Throughout Ghost Man on Second, the poems portray Reid’s active grappling with home and confrontation with the ghosts she finds there. 

For more about the book, visit https://www.autumnhouse.org/books/ghost-man-on-second/.


Erica Reid
, M.F.A., is an award-winning writer now based in Colorado. Her debut collection Ghost Man on Second won the 2023 Donald Justice Poetry Prize and was published by Autumn House Press in 2024. Erica’s poems appear in Rattle, Cherry Tree, Colorado Review, and more. Learn more at ericareidpoet.com.

 

 

 

 

As Ohio Poets of the Year, Sabol and Reid join the likes of Mary Oliver, David Baker, Kari Gunter-Seymour, and Maggie Smith.

This year's Ohio Poetry Day celebration will occur on October 18–19 in Springfield, Ohio.

 
OHIO POETRY DAY AGENDA

Friday, October 18, 7–9 PM: Meet and greet, overnight poetry contest prompt, et cetera.

Saturday, October 19, 10 AM–4 PM: Includes a morning workshop, open mic featuring Ohio Poetry Day contest winners, reading by Honorable Mention Neil Carpathios, and keynote reading by Ohio Poet of the Year Barbara Sabol. Registration opens at 9 a.m.

Where:   Christ Church Springfield,
                  409 E. High Street
                  Springfield, OH 45505


Previous Ohio Poets of the Year

1976

1977
1978

1979
1980

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985

1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992


1993
1994
Hallie Cramer
Muriel de Chambrun
Virginia Moran Evans
Cecil Hale Hartzell
Celia Dimmette
Novella Humphrey Davis
Daisy Lee Donaldson
Mary Oliver
James Magner, Jr.
James C. Kilgore
no award given
Charlotte Mann
Richard Hague
Michael J. Rosen
J. A. Totts
Timothy Russell
Amy Jo Schoonover
Robert Wallace
Bonnie Jacobson
David Baker
Debra Allbery
Grace Butcher
Frankie Paino
David Citino
Tom Andrews
Michael J. Bugeja
A Sprig of Bittersweet
Sudden Soring
To Seek the Sun
Song on the Anvil
Ocean Carry Us Far
There Was This Place
Surface Fragments
Twelve Moons
Till No Light Leaps
African Violet
    ---
Grape Pitcher
Ripening
A Drink at the Mirage
Outside the Dream
The Possibility of Turning to Salt
New & Used Poems
The Common Summer
Stopping for Time
Sweet Home, Saturday Night
Walking Distance
Child, House, World
The Rapture of Matter
The Discipline
The Hemophiliac's Motorcycle
After Oz
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005

2006
2007
2008
2009

2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

2015

2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
 
2021
2022
2023
Alberta Turner
Lou Suarez
William Matthews
James Cummins
Susan Grimm
Miriam Vermilya
Myrna Stone
Pauletta Hansel
Deanna Packard
Elton Glaser
Cathryn Essinger
Herbert W. Martin
David Hassler
Martha Collins
William Heyen
Stephen Haven
Terry Hermsen
Will Wells
George Looney
Linda Ann Schofield
Lianne Spidel
Dzvinia Orlowsky
David Lee Garrison
Jeff Gundy
Maggie Smith
Kathy Fagan
Susan Glassmeyer
Laura Grace Weldon
Kari Gunter-Seymour

Quartez Harris
Erica Manto Paulson
Rikki Santer
Beginning With And
Losses of Moment
Time & Money
Portrait in a Spoon
Almost Home
Heartwood
The Art of Loss
Divining
ln Dreams We Kiss Ourselves Goodbye
Pelican Talks
My Dog Does Not Read Plato
Escape to the Promised Land
Red Kimono, Yellow Barn
Blue Front
The Confessions of Doc Williams
Dust and Bread
The River's Daughter
Unsettled Accounts
Open Between Us
Psalms of the Hood
What to Tell Joseme
Silvertone
Playing Bach in the D.C. Metro
Somewhere Near Defiance
The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison
Sycamore
Invisible Fish
Blackbird
A Place So Deep Inside America It Can't Be Seen
We Made It to School Alive
Hunger
Resurrection Letter: Leonora, Her Tarot, and Me


 

Thursday, September 12, 2024

September 19 thru 21: The Wick Poetry Center Celebrating 40 Years

From our friends at the Wick Poetry Center in Kent:

In honor of the Wick Poetry Center’s 40th anniversary, we invite you to join us for a celebration at Kent State University. Over two days and three nights of festivities, our keynote speakers, Padraig Ó Tuama, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Hirshfield, and Adrian Matejka will give readings and host engaging panels. As we celebrate four decades of creativity and community, we are also delighted to feature poet and founding director Maggie Anderson, along with our accomplished Wick prize-winning authors.
Register by September 13th at WickPoetry.com.
 

Monday, September 9, 2024

Russell Atkins Memorial Service

Russell Atkins
Memorial Service

Friday, September 13, 2024
2:00 p.m.

Nesbitt Funeral Home 
6415 Quincy Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44104

The short memorial service will include displays of Russell's books and final papers. Following the service, attendants may, if they wish, proceed to the cemetery and give brief remarks.



Saturday, September 7, 2024

New Unhoused Clevelanders Poetry Anthology

For more about this new anthology, These Words are Not My Home: Poems, Stories and Essays from The Unhoused (edited by R.A. Washington), please read: 

Unseen voices: How a shelter program, new poetry anthology channel thoughts of unhoused Clevelanders by Collin Cunningham in The Land.

Copies of the book are available from Mac's Backs Books on Coventry.  

Friday, August 9, 2024

People Love Poetry: Every Other Tuesday at Afrika in South Euclid

People Love Poetry happens every other Tuesday (August 8th, August 22nd, September 5th, September 19th, October 3rd, and so on) at Afrika Taste and Lounge, 4483 Mayfield Road in South Euclid, Ohio.



Follow People Love Poetry on Facebook. Or contact them at peoplelovepoetry@gmail.com.

Saturday, August 3, 2024

August 17th: See Paula J. Lambert in Sandusky

 Paula J. Lambert comes north to Sandusky August 17th at 2:00

Join us. Open Mic to Follow

Monday, July 22, 2024

Vermilion City Council Appoints Joette McDonald as City’s First Poet Laureate

Congratulations to Joette McDonald! 

From the press release:

At the July 8th Vermilion City Council meeting Mayor Jim Forthofer put forth the name of Joette McDonald to be named Vermilion and the surrounding area’s first Poet Laureate. In his recommendation to council members he highlighted why Mrs. McDonald was such a deserving person for this honor. Vermilion City Council approved this appointment unanimously.

You might be asking yourself “What is a Poet Laureate and what do they do?”. This is not an uncommon question. A poet laureate is “ a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution as an honorary representative of a particular region”. The state of Ohio’s Poet Laureate is Kari Gunther Seymour, appointed by Governor DeWine in January 2024. There are numerous cities or counties who have appointed a Poet Laureate.

So now you ask, “What does a Poet Laureate do?”. The person appointed is a poet who has written poems, books or other literary pieces that have been published. The Poet Laureate might be asked to read a poem at a ceremonial event that the city holds such as a building dedication or be an advocate for not only poetry, but for any form of the literature. They might help kick of the library summer reading program or a school’s Right to Read campaign.

So who is Joette McDonald? Mrs. McDonald has been a teacher of 1st and 4th grade since she was 19 years of age until she retired from Vermilion Local Schools in 1996. She taught at South Street School and Vermilion Intermediate School and has taught many Vermilion residents during her tenure as a teacher. Joette has an undergraduate degree from Kent State

University where she graduated Cum Laude and later earned a Master’s degree from Ashland University.

Joette’s poetry has won numerous awards, has been read on the radio and been published in several periodicals and anthologies. Her poetry books include Seasons of the Soul (2013), It Seems Like Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe (2007) and Waiting for the Bus at Protemus (2005). Mrs. McDonald has also published a book on how to write poetry titled I Feel Like a Poem Coming On-Now What (2007). Composer Dr. H. Leslie Adams has used her poems as art songs, many of which have been performed in concerts and recorded. Joette has also penned two books for young adolescents about Vermilion -The Lighthouse Mystery and The Haunted Hall, a story of Vermilion’s Old Town Hall (now Harbourtown Fine Arts Center).

The Vermilion Poetry Society, who encouraged the Mayor and City Council to establish a Poet Laureate for Vermilion and the Surrounding Areas, will honor Joette McDonald as our first Poet Laureate with a reception on Thursday, August 8th from 7:00-9:00 pm at Harbourtown Fine Arts Center, 736 Main Street. Those interested in attending should email Dr. Jim Chapple at chappjw@aol.com or call him at 440.225.1547 to attend this reception.

Also read in Lorain's Morning Journal.

Monday, July 8, 2024

July 13th: Jeremy Jusek, Dianne Borsenik & Alissa Sammarco in South Euclid

See poets Dianne Borsenik, Jeremy Jusek and Alissa Sammarco on Saturday the 13th, 2 p.m. at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

Register at https://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/10323147

About the authors:

Dianne Borsenik is active in the northern and mid-Ohio poetry communities. Recent work has appeared in I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing: Ohio’s Appalachian Voices, Songs of Wild Ohio , and Poem for Cleveland. Raga for What Comes Next, a full-length collection of Borsenik’s poems, was studied as part of the Modern & Contemporary American Poetry course at Muskingum University. Flight of Honey, another full-length collection, was published in May, 2023. Actor Jonathan Frid used three of her poems in his one-man tour Genesis of Evil, Speak of the Devil (Lorain, Ohio) named a cocktail after her, and Lit Youngstown printed her poem “Disco” on their t-shirts, all of which makes her feel like a rock star. Borsenik lives in Elyria, Ohio. Find her on Facebook and at www.dianneborsenik.com.

Once when I was little and very frightened, I was handed a jar of honey and a spoon. I closed my eyes and tasted beams of sun. Dianne Borsenik’s Flight of Honey reveals the bitter sweetness we discover in dark moments and closes its eyes to taste the moments of love we return to comfort in. There’s a new discovery in each taste from this collection. From the stark “Up the Mountain” through the inquisitive romp of the title poem to the introspection of “Knotted Together,” Borsenik sets us on a beeline path through her gracious mind with all of the wry humor and thoughtfulness we expect from this poetic trailblazer. In life, “blood doesn’t always call to blood” but this collection, like honey, beads warm amber and asks you simply to slow and savor.
—Jonie McIntire, Lucas County Poet Laureate, author of Semidomesticated (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2022), winner of Red Flag Poetry’s 2020 Chapbook Contest

 

Jeremy Jusek is the poet laureate of Parma, Ohio. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University and chemistry/theatre degrees from Marietta College. He has authored more than a half-dozen plays and three poetry collections: We Grow Tomatoes in Tiny Towns, The Less-Traveled Street, and The Details Will Be Gone Soon. He hosts the Ohio Poetry Association's podcast Poetry Spotlight, runs the West Side Poetry Workshop, teaches through Literary Cleveland, and founded the Flamingo Writers’ Guild. To learn more, please visit www.jeremyjusek.com.

The Details Will Be Gone Soon is a close investigation of the primordial underpinnings behind Alzheimer’s disease and the emotional wreckage left in its wake. This poetry collection follows the speaker and his grandmother, Nana, and the various memories shared between the two. At times, the collection seeks to illustrate the loose word associations, frustrations, and existential cloud cover that darkens dementia’s horizons. Other poems steer toward youth and hope, extolling love, lessons learned, and shared experiences. This dichotomy allows the collection to successfully walk that critical line that families of Alzheimer’s patients often experience: one that straddles between the unfairly diminished, barely-present caricature versus the vibrant, vigor-filled past-selves that close friends and family spent a lifetime loving.

 

Alissa Sammarco uses cinematic imagery to freeze those moments in time and evoke the feeling of revisiting them.  She examines the common in life and relationships to find the extraordinary. Her work has appeared in Sheila-Na-Gig, Black Moon Magazine, Change Seven, Quiet Diamonds, The Main Street Rag, Stone Canoe, VIA: Voices in Italian Americana, Rat’s Ass Review, the 2021 and 2022 Lexington Poetry Month Anthologies, and elsewhere. She is the author of two chapbooks, Beyond the Dawn and I See Them Now.  Alissa lives and practices law in Cincinnati, Ohio. www.AlissaSammarco.com.

Moon Landing Day navigates the trajectories of relationships blasted off course by miscalculations, unmet expectations, abuse, and addiction.  In cinematic imagery, these poems reveal the difficult truths of a young woman, the harm that is passed from generation to generation, and the painful journey of acceptance to forgiveness.  From the total loss of control to the emergent spark of self-awareness, this young woman grapples to break the pattern.  She unravels her life and knits it back together in these poems.  They will hold you in their grip and bring you in for a safe landing.

Saturday, July 6, 2024

July 18th: Open Air Poets in Cleveland Heights

From our friends at Mac's Backs and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library:

Join us in the PEACE Park as Coventry Branch and Mac’s Backs Bookstore present an outdoor summer poetry series. Thursday July 18th, 2024, at 7 p.m.

July's reading features poets: Miles Budimir, Steve Goldberg, Jason Harris and Kevin Latimer.
 
Coventry Village Library
1925 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

Saturday, June 29, 2024

There's Always This Year: Grace Harper interviews Hanif Abdurraqib


Grace Harper of Mac's Backs Books on Coventry has a wonderful monthly book blog called Grace Notes, and I was especially excited to see that for July's edition she has interviewed acclaimed Ohio author Hanif Abdurraqib, whose latest book is There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension [Penguin Random House].

Read this enlightening interview at www.macsbacks.com/grace-notes-july-2024.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

June 29th: M.J. Arcangelini & Friends and Ground & Sky Poetry

Saturday, June 29, 2024 from 5:00pm to 7:30pm at Mac's Backs Books on Coventry

Mac's will host a gathering of poets with readings by MJ Arcangelini and Joel Lesses on Saturday, June 29th at 5 p.m. The event is also a book release celebration for Journeys of Sacred Community: A Collection Anthology of Ground and Sky Poetry

MJ Arcangelini, born in Pennsylvania in 1952, has resided in northern California since 1979. He has published in many magazines, online journals & over a dozen anthologies.  He is the author of six published collections, including  Pawning My Sins publlished in 2022 by Luchador Press.

Ground and Sky Poetry is a reading series in Buffalo and Rochester, NY and was inspired by the late poet Maj Ragain from Kent. 

Joel David Lesses is a counselor and the founder of Education Training Center in Buffalo, dedicated to reframing mental health distress as a potential spiritual marker and existential opportunity. He also does the Unraveling Religion podcast which focuses on spirituality, world religion, meditation and poetry.

Other poets scheduled to read include Dianne Borsenik, Chris Franke, Russ Vidrick, Steven Smith, Kathy “Lady” Smith, John Burroughs, Shelley Chernin, Ben Gulyas, Adam Brodsky, Steve Goldberg, Steve Thomas, Scott Silsbe and  Chandra "Peggy Honeydew" Alderman.

Mac's Backs
1820 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
https://www.macsbacks.com

Sunday, June 23, 2024

July 12: Poet Laureate Ada Limón comes to Cuyahoga Valley National Park

On July 12 at 6 pm, Cuyahoga Valley National Park will host the 24th U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón for a special event. Please join us for the unveiling of the "You Are Here" poetry project at the Ledges Shelter.

Seven national parks, including Cuyahoga Valley, were selected by Limón to be part of her signature project “You are Here: Poetry in Parks.” In each park, a picnic table transformed into a work of public art will be unveiled. At the Ledges Shelter, Limón will unveil a picnic table inscribed with Jean Valentine’s poem, “The Valley”.

  • The event starts at 6 pm; doors open at 5 pm.
  • Please bring a lawn chair or blanket if you’re able.
  • Additional parking is available at Kendall Lake (1000 Truxell Road in Peninsula) with a shuttle provided to the event.
  • Limón's anthology will be available for purchase at the event.

Poetry in Parks is a partnership between the National Park Service, Library of Congress, U.S. National Poet Laureate, and Poetry Society of America. The initiative is one half of Ada Limón’s signature project titled, “You Are Here.” The project also includes an anthology of original poems by 50 contemporary American poets. Learn more about Poetry in Parks.

Make reservation of register at www.eventbrite.com/e/poetry-in-cuyahoga-valley-national-park-with-ada-limon-tickets-923717222077


Sunday, June 2, 2024

Last Exit Poetry in Kent - Late 2024

From host RC Wilson:

Here is the Last Exit Open Poetry schedule through December. Please note that all readings are on the 3rd Friday EXCEPT July.


For the latest, follow https://www.facebook.com/groups/275521006684052.
 

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

5/10: Philip Metres, John James, Zach Savich, Bridget Lowe, & Dave Lucas at Visible Voice

From our friends at Visible Voice Books:

Friday, May 10 @ 7:00 P.M.

An evening of readings from five excellent poets, hosted by Virginia Konchan.

Philip Metres has written twelve books, including Fugitive/Refuge (2024) and Shrapnel Maps (2020). Winner of three Arab American Book Awards, a Guggenheim, and two NEA fellowships, he is professor of English and director of the Peace, Justice, and Human Rights program at John Carroll University.

John James is the author of The Milk Hours (Milkweed, 2019), selected by Henri Cole for the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize. His poems appear in Boston Review, Kenyon Review, Gulf Coast, Best American Poetry, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA in poetry from Columbia and is completing a PhD in English at the University of California, Berkeley. 

Zach Savich‘s latest book is the poetry collection Momently (Black Ocean, 2024). He teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Dave Lucas’s first book of poems, Weather (VQR / Georgia, 2011), received the 2012 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. He has also received a “Discovery/The Nation Prize and a Cleveland Arts Prize. In 2018, he was appointed the second Poet Laureate of the State of Ohio. A co-founder of Cleveland Book Week and Brews + Prose at Market Garden Brewery, he also teaches at the John Carroll Young Writers Workshop, the Oklahoma Arts Institute, and in the Medical Humanities program at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.

Bridget Lowe is the author of the poetry collections My Second Work (2020) and At the Autopsy of Vaslav Nijinsky (2013), both from Carnegie Mellon University Press.  Her poems have appeared widely in publications including The New Yorker, Poetry, American Poetry Review, Best American Poetry, The New Republic, Parnassus, Boston Review, A Public Space, Plume, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. Her honors include the Emily Dickinson Award from the Poetry Society of America, a “Discovery”/Boston Review Prize, a fellowship to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Rona Jaffe Foundation fellowship to the MacDowell Colony. She lives in Kansas City, where she was born.

Visible Voice Books
2258 Professor Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113

5/8: John Burroughs, Jeremy Jusek and Barbara Marie Minney at Mac's Backs

I look forward to reading with Jeremy Jusek and Barbara Marie Minney on May 8th, 7 p.m. at Mac's Backs-Books On Coventry in Cleveland Heights.
 

ABOUT BARBARA MARIE MINNEY

Barbara Marie Minney is a transgender woman, award winning poet, writer, speaker, teaching artist, and quiet activist. Her poetry and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including Politico, The Buckeye Flame, The Gasconade Review, Gargoyle Magazine, The Pine Cone Review, Women Speak: Women of Appalachia Project, Woman Scream: The International Poetry Anthology of Female Voices, and I Thought I Heard A Cardinal Sing, Ohio’s Appalachian Voices. Barbara’s poetry has also been translated into Spanish. She is the author of If There’s No Heaven, the winner of the 2020 Poetry Is Life Book Award and an Akron Beacon Journal Best Northeast Ohio Book in 2020; the "Poetic Memoir Chapbook Challenge;" "Dance Naked With God;" and "A Woman in Progress." Barbara is a retired attorney and a seventh generation Appalachian and lives in Tallmadge, Ohio, with her wife of over 42 years and a menagerie of stuffed animals. You can follow Barbara at https://www.barbaramarieminneypoetry.com.

ABOUT JEREMY JUSEK
Jeremy is the poet laureate of Parma, Ohio. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University and chemistry/theatre degrees from Marietta College. He has authored more than a half-dozen plays and three poetry collections: We Grow Tomatoes in Tiny Towns (Unsolicited Press, 2019), The Less-Traveled Street (Maverick Duck Press, 2022), and The Details Will Be Gone Soon (ELJ Editions, 2023). He hosts the Ohio Poetry Association's podcast Poetry Spotlight, runs the West Side Poetry Workshop, teaches through Literary Cleveland, and founded the Flamingo Writers’ Guild. To learn more, please visit www.jeremyjusek.com.

Mac's Backs
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
216-321-2665
www.macsbacks.com

Cited...

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