Poetry Month!

Once again, the calendar has rolled around to April, and tomorrow will be the start of National Poetry Month. And that means that the Cuyahoga Public Library is celebrating with their month-long Read+Write: Thirty Days of Poetry. For every day of the National Poetry month, you can expect a new poem by a Northeastern Ohio poet, along with a poetry prompt, and a daily challenge. Sign up now!  

• Read+Write: 30 Days of Poetry: 
• First Post, April 1
• Archive of posts to date
• Sign up for Read+Write: 30 Days of Poetry
• Cuyahoga County Library: Listing of Poetry Month Events
• Poetry Foundation: Celebrate National Poetry Month

Jim Lang Book Club at Cleveland Clinic

		Lerner Research Institute   Jim Lang Book Club Local Author Series
	Please join us to hear Dr. Bilgere read Jim Lang's poems in celebration of the inaugural Jim Lang Book Club, a series that will feature local authors. Dr. Bilgere has published seven poetry collections, and his poems have also appeared in many distinguished journals and several anthologies. His collections and individual poems are award-winning, garnering the Devins Award for Poetry, the May Swenson Poetry Award, the Midland Authors Award, and a Pushcart Prize, among others. In 1991 he was a Fulbright Scholar in Spain, and he was later named a Witter Bynner Fellow, a prestigious honor bestowed in conjunction with the Library of Congress. Dr. Bilgere was awarded the Cleveland Arts Prize for Literature in 2003 and received a Creative Workforce Fellowship from Cleveland's Community Partnership for Arts and Culture in 2014. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council have also recognized and supported Dr. Bilgere. In addition to teaching at John Carroll University and writing, he hosts a popular weekly WJCU radio program, Wordplay, that explores the craft of poetry and celebrates the spoken word.
	Jim Lang passed away in 2017, but his presence is still felt by those who knew him during his more than 25 years as the LRI Photographic Services Core Director. Jim was much more than our resident photographer – he was a friend, poet, artist, philosopher, potter, scholar, and above all, a true humanitarian. He had the unique ability to light up any space with his love of life and literature. He willingly shared his knowledge on a wide variety of topics and his expertise in many areas, and he instilled in us a deep appreciation for all that enriches our lives beyond our chosen professions and everyday responsibilities. Jim organized poetry slams in his early days and book clubs most recently, so we will continue the book club in his honor.
Hosted by Vince Tuohy, PhD and Justin Johnson, Dept. of Inflammation and Immunity
Monday, April 1   3:00 pm    LRI Commons
Light refreshments will be provided. Cleveland Clinic - Lerner Research Institute 9620 Carnegie Avenue (N building) Cleveland, Ohio 44106

Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry- continued

Back in November, I linked to Ohio Poet Laureate Dave Lucas's series "Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry".  Since then, he's continued on, with four new installments:

• Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry, No. 4
• Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry, No. 5
• Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry, No. 6
• Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry, No. 7

Alternate source: Arts Ohio Blog

Words On Fire: A Remembrance of the Cuyahoga River Fire, 1969

For the third consecutive year, Literary Cleveland will host a free staged reading of original work by Cleveland writers at the Cleveland Humanities Festival

This year's performance, titled “Words On Fire: A Remembrance of the Cuyahoga River Fire, 1969,” will be held Saturday, March 16 and Sunday March 17 at 7pm in Cleveland State University's Student Center Ballroom (2121 Euclid Ave, Cleveland), in partnership with the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University. 

And, check out an interview with the show's director, Chennelle Bryant-Harris on the lit Cleveland blog.

• Words On Fire: A Remembrance of the Cuyahoga River Fire, 1969
• Cleveland Humanities festival

Cuyahoga River Fire Nov. 3, 1952. Courtesy of Cleveland Press Collection at Cleveland State University Library

Celebrate Indy Bookstores!

• Cleveland.com celebrates Cleveland's wonderful independent bookstores!

Loganberry Books - Photo by Stu Spivack

Mac's Backs - Photo by GL

Appletree Books - photo by Lute Q.

... and the Cleveland Scene also celebrates https://photos.clevescene.com/where-to-find-the-best-independent-bookstores-in-cleveland/!

Ohio Haiku Anthology Call for Submissions

Ohio Haiku Anthology Call for Submissions

The Ohio Haiku Anthology is an anthology celebrating contemporary English Language Haiku haiku written by Ohio poets, past and present.

The closing date for entries is March 31, 2019. Poets selected will be announced by June 30, 2019.

Poets selected for the anthology will be paid one copy of the anthology.

Your work

Your submission should comprise of 5-10 haiku and senryu. We are specifically looking for poems that follow the contemporary English Language Haiku format as described by The Haiku Society of America.  (http://www.hsa-haiku.org/archives/HSA_Definitions_2004.html)  While we will not reject poems that are 5-7-5 outright, they must follow the other HSA guidelines for haiku.

We are primarily looking for poems that have been previously published by leading haiku journals and presses. After each poem, please indicate the publication name and date. While we will not reject unpublished poems outright, the emphasis for this anthology is on previously published work.

Your submission should be in English and must be entirely your own work. You must have reprint rights for your poems. By submitting your poems, you are agreeing that you have reprint rights.

Your name and e-mail address should appear on the top of your submission. A cover sheet should include your name, address, email address, and your relationship to Ohio. If you are currently living in Ohio, please let us know where. If you are a past resident of Ohio, please let us know when and where you lived in Ohio.

Where to send your entry

Entries must be sent by email.

Email entries should be sent to CuttlefishPoetryBooks@gmail.com. Electronic manuscripts and cover sheets should be sent as MS Word or PDF files attached to the email.

Rights

Copyright remains with the authors. For previously published poems, Cuttlefish Books will seek Anthology Reprint Rights for the purposes of this anthology. For unpublished poems, Cuttlefish Books will seek Anthology Rights.

Russell Vidrick comes to Mr. Smith's Coffeehouse

We are pleased to host Russell Vidrick as our featured writer for the March 16th Reading at Mr. Smith's Coffeehouse in Sandusky....Sponsored by the Firelands Writing Center and Bottom Dog Press. Come on out and enjoy the lake and the beauty of Sandusky in the winter....Russell will warm you as will the good drinks at Mr. Smith's...Open mic to follow....2 - 3:30 pm