June 28: Social Justic Poetry at ComFest in Columbus

This Saturday, 28 June at 5:50 p.m. during the 53rd annual Community Festival in Columbus, friends of the Ohio Poetry Association will present Eat Our Words: Social Justice Poetry, featuring readings by Susann Moeller, John Burroughs, Rikki Santer, Christopher Minton, Kathleen S. Burgess, and Charlene Fix on the Peace and Healing Pavilion at ComFest.

From Dr. Moeller's write up: "Besides a declared national Pride and Black Lives Matter Month, June has also been declared the Rebuild your Life Month and June 28 in particular commemorates the Ukraine Constitution Day in the United States. EOW’s poets address the reasons for those dedications and our collective as well as individual experiences with them - emotionally, culturally, socio-economically, geographically, and politically — whether hard to digest or comforting, we are looking at them under the magnifying glass of poetry which serves as yet another tool to promote inquiry, curiosity, ethics, and compassion."

ComFest happens at Goodale Park, W. Goodale Street, 43215. For more information, including the full three-day schedule, please visit https://www.comfest.com/comfest-2025/.

Comfest in Columbus 6/23 and Visible Voice in Cleveland 7/7

Saturday June 23rd at 5:55 p.m., Shelley Chernin and I will perform a joint set of poetry and ukulele in Columbus, Ohio, at the Peace & Healing Tent Stage during ComFest 2018 in Goodale Park. Central Ohio poets Betty Bleen, Susann Moeller, Beverly Zeimer and Alexis Rueal will also perform.

Then on Saturday July 7th at 7:30 p.m., Steven B. Smith and I will read from our new books at Visible Voice Books in Cleveland, Ohio. An open mic will follow, for anyone else who wishes to share.

Steven B. Smith is the author of Where Never Was Already Is [2018, Crisis Chronicles Press]. Shelley Chernin is the author of The Vigil [2012, Crisis Chronicles Press]. John Burroughs is the author of Loss and Foundering [2018, NightBallet Press]. All three of us are co-authors (along with Mary Weems, Kathy Smith, John Swain and Steve Brightman) of Oct Tongue -1 [2014, Crisis Chronicles Press].

For my full 2018 poetry event schedule, click here.