The Lit's fire is quenched.

So - the decades old literary organization has folded.  

What do folks have to say?

I'll weigh in later.

 

Lantern Award Winners

Last night at the Palace Theater, The Lit hosted their first-ever biennial Lantern Awards ceremony. Since Billy Crystal wasn't available, Cleveland's own Michael Heaton [left] emceed.

My favorite underappreciated cartoonist, Derf, proved appreciated after all, receiving a lifetime achievement award. Thankfully, he's not yet ready to retire.

The far-too-soon retired Harvey Pekar and Sheila Schwartz also received well deserved lifetime achievement awards.

As for the fab northeast Ohio writers who competed for the rest of the awards, there was no way every deserving candidate was going to win a uniquely sculpted Mark Yasenchack lantern. If that had happened, I imagine the artist might not have had time to create anything else this year. But ten writers both got lucky and very much earned their awards in ten highly competitive genres. Here they are:

Poetry Collection: George Bilgere of Cleveland Heights, for The White Museum.

Single Poem: Eric Anderson of Elyria, for "A Couple of Scars on My Back."

Fiction/Novel: Dan Chaon of Cleveland Heights, for Await Your Reply.

Short Fiction: Tricia Springstubb of Cleveland Heights, for "In the Dark."

Memoir - Book Length: Thrity Umrigar of Cleveland Heights, for First Darling of the Morning.

Non-Fiction - Book Length: Michael Rulman of Cleveland Heights, for The Elements of Cooking.

Non-Fiction - Essay: Kristin Ohlson of Cleveland Heights, for Watching TV in Kabul.

Journalism: Joanna Connors of Shaker Heights, for "Beyond Rape."

Performance: Michael Oatman of Shaker Heights, for Eclipse.

Blog: Erin O'Brien of Broadview Heights, for The Erin O'Brien Owner's Manual for Human Beings.

And appearances to the contrary, I assure you there has been no vast eastside conspiracy.

Thanks to The Lit's director Judith Mansour for spearheading this memorable event, and to everyone else who had a hand in making it happen. Hearty congratulations to the Lantern Award winners! For more about each of them, I encourage you to check out this morning's Plain Dealer article or click on their names above.

P.S. I videoed the awards ceremony and took some photos at the after party. So stay tuned for a sequel to this blog entry when I have more time.

Congrats to Erin!

Clevelandpoetics was one of the three nominees for best blog at the Cleveland Literary Center's "All Lit Up" ceremony for the biennial "Lantern" literary awards. The awards ceremony just finished, with John Burroughs and me there to accept the award for Clevelandpoetics if we won....

Well, I regret to say that when the envelope was opened, Clevelandpoetics didn't win best blog... but I am thrilled to say that we lost to Rainy Day woman Erin O'Brien's blog, "The Erin O'Brien Owners Manual for Human Beings." If we have to lose, I think we can say that we lost to the very best. Erin's blog is funny, and insightful, and all in all a great read. I'm sure you all already read it, but if not, you should go there right now and add it to your bookmarks.

Congrats, Erin! Well deserved!

(Stay tuned for a post on the rest of the winners... )

All LIT Up at the Palace on 9/11/2010

All LIT Up

The Academy has the Oscars...The LIT has the Lanterns. Join the Northeast Ohio Literary Community for a celebration of writers and writing in eight different genre categories and be there as we honor Sheila Schwartz and Harvey Pekar with a final tribute.

Saturday, September 11, 2010
Palace Theatre at Playhouse Square
8-10pm / Doors open at 7pm

Cocktails*, Book Browsing, Hob-knobbing, and a LITtle bit of Entertainment
* Cash bar

$35 ticket
$50 ticket includes Turn the Page After-Party

Purchase tix at www.playhousesquare.org
or 216-241-6000

Turn the Page After-Party
at the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative
1309 Euclid Avenue, Suite 200
10pm - Midnight

$50 ticket-holders admitted

HURRY - fewer than 50 tickets remain!

As easy as the turn of the page, walk half a block to the CUDC where the celebration with finalists and award-winning writers begins! Enjoy cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and desserts as you connect with the literati against the backdrop of this stunning space and beats by DJ Jugoe.

Follow The Lit on Twitter.
Like The Lit on Facebook.

Read a recent Plain Dealer article about the Lantern Awards here.

The Lit is located in the ArtCraft Building | 2570 Superior Avenue Suite 203 | Cleveland, Ohio 44114 | Phone: 216.694.0000 | www.the-lit.org

[Full disclosure: Cleveland Poetics - The Blog is in the running for a 2010 Lantern Award.]
.

The Lit

I've been involved with the Cleveland Literary Center ("the Lit") off and on ever since back before they even were "the Lit," when they were merely the Poet's League of Greater Cleveland, a cantankerous group of old (and young) poets that didn't even really like each other, but did agree that, somehow, poetry was important, and needed to be nurtured and heard and read and promoted. Joanna Connors had a good article in the Plain Dealer summarizing the history of the Lit, where they've been and where they're going from here:

Cleveland's writers bloc: Literary organization the Lit provides supportive community for local authors and poets

Check out their site, as well their literary journal Muse. Or join them on Facebook.

And, a message from the Lit:

Mark your calendars! The LIT’s 2010 Biennial LITerary Awards will take place on September 11, 2010 at The Ohio Theatre in PlayhouseSquare. Visit our Awards Page for information on Submission and Nomination Guidelines.

I should also note that this is only one of many events that the Lit hosts. Coming up on March 27th, for example, they will be hosting Green Panda's benefit event "Saturday Night at the Parthenon" at The Lit on Superior --but Bree will probably blog about that later, I expect.