November 15th: Get Sharp! 2025 Ohio Poetry Publishing Conference

Join the Ohio Poetry Association on November 15th from 10 to 4:30 at the Cuyahoga County Public Library's South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch for an absolutely free Ohio Poetry Publishing Conference. Registration and more details at https://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/13881294.

Get Sharp! will include an Ohio small press book fair and fab workshop presentations by Dianne Borsenik, Geoff Anderson, Michael Salinger, and Susan Grimm.

July 3: Open Air Poets in Cleveland Heights feat. Salinger, Chernin, & Burroughs

This Thursday, July 3rd, I'll have the distinct pleasure of reading with the amazing Michael Salinger and Shelley Chernin during Open Air Poets on the lawn outside the Coventry Village branch library in Cleveland Heights.

So many thanks to Mac's Backs-Books and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Libraries.

Moderating Cleveland Poetics and an Interview with Cat Russell

Michael Salinger created the Cleveland Poetics blog in 2008 and invited a bunch of local poets to be regular contributors. I was fortunate to be one of them, although life and other pursuits prevented me from contributing as much as I would have liked over the years. At some point a decade or so ago, Michael handed off his role of blog moderator to Geoffrey Landis. Our region owes both of these men an immense debt of gratitude for their generous and indispensable service to the project.

You probably know that Cleveland Poetics is also home to the Northeast Ohio Literary Calendar. Michael created that too. And though I did not contribute as much as I might have liked to the blog, I did early on embrace the role of the primary person responsible for maintaining the online calendar and keeping it as comprehensive as possible. Fortunately, I have had some help from others in the community who have admin rights and can add their own events. Cat Russell, for example, has been particularly helpful in recent months, having agreed to ensure that all of Literary Cleveland's events are included.

But back to the blog. A couple of months ago, Geoffrey Landis decided to hand off his moderator role and offered it to me. Now that I'm no longer as busy with caring for ill family members, publishing, event hosting, and so on, I have a bit more discretionary time and so happily accepted the task. That means I will be sharing more there. I also hope to recruit some more regular contributors.

One of my first posts in my new role there is an interview with the aforementioned Cat Russell about her new book, An Optimist's Journal of the End of Days and Other Stories. [2020, Venetian Spider Press]. I hope you'll check it out. And while you're at the Cleveland Poetics blog, give us your email address (you'll find "Follow by Email" in the right sidebar) so you can stay up to date on future developments, both on the site and around our northeast Ohio literary community. Finally, if you would like to contribute to the blog, feel free to reach out and let me know. 

Cat Russell and the End of Days: An Interview / www.clevelandpoetry.com

Ohio Senate Passes Bill Establishing Ohio Poet Laureate - House Next!

Steve Abbott testifying on behalf of S.B. 84 on May 21st
in Columbus [photo by Michael Salinger]

Click here to read about it on the Ohio Senate's minority caucus blog.  

Many thanks to the senators, including many from our area and from both political parties, who have stepped up and supported Senate Bill 84.  Letters from poets and other bill supporters from across the state, as well as great support from the Ohio Arts Council and Ohio Poetry Association have helped immensely.  But our work's not done yet.

Now Senate Bill 84 is moving on to the Ohio House for consideration and this is the perfect time for us to write to our state representatives and express our support for the establishment of a Poet Laureate position in Ohio.  It doesn't seem right that Ohio, the home of so many fine poets statewide, is one of only five United States not to have such a position.

So please write to your state representative and urge him or her to pass this bill.

Click here to find your representative.
Click here to read Senate Bill 84, the Ohio Poet Laureate bill.
Click here to read my testimony before the Senate in support of S.B. 84.
Click here to read Michael Salinger's testimony before the Senate in support of S.B. 84.
Click here to read a statement by Steve Abbott on the O.P.A. blog in support of S.B. 84.