April 23rd: Tongue-in Groove Jam featuring NE Ohio Poets Laureate

Ray McNiece and his Tongue-in-Groove Band will host a special Laureates edition of their regular Poetry Jam on Thursday 23 April, 6 p.m., at the new Visible Voice Books location at 4601 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland. Poets scheduled to appear include John Burroughs, Dianne Borsenik, and Doc Janning.

[UPDATE: Due to illness, I could not appear.]

April 4th: A Gathering of Laurels IV in South Euclid

I'll be part of this reading on Saturday, April 4th at the Cuyahoga County Public Library's South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch. South Euclid Poet Laureate Doc Janning will emcee. Free event. Other featured readers include Doc, Ray McNiece, and Jeremy Jusek. Register at
https://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/13505877. 

2026 Sun & Moon Poetry Festival: May 15–17 in Yellow Springs

The 2026 Sun & Moon Poetry Festival Invites Attendees to “Navigate with Poetry.”

The Ohio Poetry Association (OPA), in partnership with Miami Valley Astronomical Society, presents the fifth Sun & Moon Poetry Festival, May 15–17, 2026, in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Poets and poetry lovers are invited to explore the theme, “Navigate with Poetry,” during a weekend of writing workshops, readings, stargazing, and other activities that culminate in a celebration of poetry and the cosmos. Keynote guest Geoffrey A. Landis is an award-winning poet, science fiction writer, and scientist whose writing has appeared in more than twenty languages.

“At Glen Helen, Poetry and Nature become one in the ravine, the open sky, and our words,” said Susann Moeller, OPA First Vice President and festival chairperson.

Additional workshop leaders for the weekend are renowned poets Lauren Camp, Manuel Iris, Paula J. Lambert, and Dior J. Stephens. A special haiku hike led by Ray McNiece will offer visitors a chance to hear poems in the beautiful setting of Glen Helen Nature Preserve. The weekend also offers street poetry in downtown Yellow Springs, a haiku “death match,” native flute music, sound bathing, and an open-mic for festival attendees to share their own poetry.

"Thanks to the support of our sponsors, we have a remarkable lineup of poets and activities planned for this year's Sun & Moon Poetry Festival, which is a signature OPA event that demonstrates our commitment to expanding poetic craft and community in inclusive spaces," said Holly Brians Ragusa, OPA President.

Sponsors for the festival include the Ohio Arts Council, Full/Crescent Press, Lit Youngstown, LitCincy, Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, and Crisis Chronicles Press.

Complete festival information, a program schedule, and accommodations information is available on the OPA website at ohiopoetryassn.org/sun-moon-festival

Registration is available through April 22th at eventbrite.com/e/sun-moon-poetry-festival-tickets-1892651303999.

The Ohio Poetry Association (OPA) is a nonprofit, educational volunteer organization with a 501(c)(3) Federal designation and a member state of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.

July 12: Ohio Poetry Association Picnic at Sandy Ridge Reservation

Join us July 12th at the Lorain County Metroparks' Sandy Ridge Reservation in North Ridgeville, Ohio for the Ohio Poetry Association's annual picnic, featuring readings by co-Ohio Poet of the Year Barbara Sabol (Watermark) and recent Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate Ray McNiece (Bone Key Sutra), shorter readings by OPA members with recent publications, plus open mic.

Picnic begins at 12:30 p.m. in the park's Johnson Wetlands Center.

Preceded at 10 a.m. by OPA's quarterly business meeting (all members welcome).

6195 Otten Road
North Ridgeville, Ohio 44039

A Confluence of Poems: 2025 Edith Chase Reading, May 16th at Kent State

Grateful to be part of this reading and have two poems ("Tenacity" and a revised version of "Falls") in this anthology.

So many thanks to RC Wilson and the Edith Chase Symposium Association!

Friday 16 May 2025 at 4 p.m., poets from all over Ohio will gather for a dramatic reading on the theme of tributaries. There will be music, and an anthology of the poems performed will be available at the reading.

Kent State College of Architecture + Environmental Design
132 S. Lincoln Street
Kent, Ohio 44240

More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1007338138041745.

To procure a copy of A Confluence of Poems, contact RC Wilson at rcwilsonii@gmail.com.

April 6th in South Euclid: A Gathering of Laurels II

A Gathering of Laurels II

Ohio Poets Laureate read from their work for National Poetry Month on Saturday, April 06, 2024 from 2:00pm to 3:30pm EDT at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

Join us as Poets Laureate from around Ohio share their work. Doc Janning, the Inaugural Poet Laureate of the City of South Euclid, will emcee the event. Books will be available for sale and signing, and we'll celebrate with light refreshments.

Featured poets:

John Burroughs, Beat Poet Laureate Emeritus of Ohio and the U.S.

Sandra Feen, Beat Poet Laureate of Ohio

Doc Janning, Inaugural Poet Laureate of South Euclid and Third Poet Laureate of Cuyahoga County

Jeremy Jusek, Poet Laureate of Parma

Jonie McIntire, Poet Laureate of Lucas County

Ray McNiece, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Cleveland Heights

Dr. Mary Weems, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Cleveland Heights

https://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/9574197 

1876 S. Green Road
Writers Center Conference Room
South Euclid, Ohio 44121

Podcast: Poetry Spotlight presents The Poet Laureate Report (7 April 2023)

I realized that I never shared here the Poetry Spotlight podcast episode where Jeremy Jusek featured several poets laureate from Ohio, including me, back in April. So here you go. I'm on for about ten minutes beginning around the 11-minute mark. The other poets who appear, in addition to Jeremy himself, are Jonie McIntire, Ray McNiece, Kari Gunter-Seymour, Doc Janning, Wendy McVicker, and Sandra Feen.

Episode permalink: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2AIA6x1mBNX3yMyKU6VMaz.

Learn more about Poetry Spotlight, sponsored by the Ohio Poetry Association, at
https://www.ohiopoetryassn.org/poetry-spotlight.

Meet the authors of the Poem for Cleveland Anthology, 10/28 in South Euclid

I'm thrilled to be part of this on Saturday. From our friends at the CCPL:

Meet the authors of the Poem for Cleveland Anthology

Saturday, October 28

2:00pm - 4:00pm
South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch
Cuyahoga County Public Library
1876 South Green Road, South Euclid, Ohio 44121

Meeting Room A+B+C (120)

Join us to celebrate the publication of Poem for Cleveland, a new anthology written by over 100 youth and elder poets. Poets will be reading their poems from this second edition of the book.

The Poem for Cleveland project was a year-long series of workshops led by Ray McNiece, former Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate and Cleveland Arts Prize Lifetime Achievement Award winner. The project culminated in the publication of the anthology by local publisher, Red Giant Press. Poem for Cleveland was made possible by the Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation.

McNiece worked with youth poets to present writing workshops for elder poets at various community venues, including the William N. Skirball Writers’ Center at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch. Each workshop included poetry prompts about Cleveland, including favorite places, people, family memories, and growing up a Clevelander.

Poets reading include John Burroughs, Mary Weems, Bonnie Jacobson, Adrian Schnall, Doc Janning, Barbara Hill-Newby, Bill Newby, Bob Coughlin, Charlene Fix, David Adams, Diane Vogel Ferri, Dianne Borsenik, Jennifer Browne, John Burroughs, Sandra Johnson, Shelley Chernin, Timothy Richards, and Phil Metres.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Work in Four New Anthologies

Voices: Dahlias, Gods & Mermaids, edited by Dave Boles [2023, Cold River Press].

Eleven of my poems—"Bearing Her," "Darshan," "Selkie," "Shaktipat," "Beat," "Beacon," "Deluge," "Crossover," "Killer," "A Wait, A Final Fall," and "Yearning to Combine"— appear in this volume, alongside work by Dave Boles, D.R. Wagner, S.A. Griffin, Charles Plymell, Karl Kempton, A.D. Winans, Belinda Subraman, Sharon Gariepy Frye, Joe Kidd, Sheila Burke, Deborah C. Segal, and many more.

Available from https://www.coldriverpress.com/HTML/VOICES/voices.htm.

 

Spoken Word in the Woods: an anthology celebrating the Word Stage at the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival, edited by Paul Richmond [2023, Human Error Publishing].

Four of my poems—"Sprouting Onion," "Pedigree," "Dog Day," and "Dog Day Too"— appear in this volume, alongside work by Paul Richmond, Abiodun Oyewole, Doug Anderson, Deborah Tosun Kilday, Amy Laprade, Angel Martinez, Carlos Raul Dufflar, Lee Desrosiers, Karen Warinsky, Richard Wayne Horton, Robert Eugene Perry, Sharon Harmon, Tommy Twilite, Tony Vacca, Ernest Brute + Object Echo, and many more.

Available from https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1143996106.

 

Hope Springs Eternal: An Anthology of Hopeful Poetry, edited by JR Simons [2023, Simple Simons Press].

Three of my poems—"Snoetry Invocation," "Gatha," and "In the Wake"— appear in this volume, alongside work by J.R. Simons, Amanda Hayden, Joseph Balaz, Jessica Weyer-Bentley, Christen Lee, Ashley Pacholewski, Barbara Sabol, A. Garnet Weiss, Sandra Gill, Joel Lipman, Tom Barden, LaVern Spencer McCarthy, Emily Jane Vandenbos Style, J.V. Sadler, and Julie Marie Hoey.

Available from https://www.simple-simons-press.com/simple-simons-press-poetry.

 

Poem for Cleveland anthology, edited by Ray McNiece, design by Tim Lachina [2023, Red Giant Books]

My poem "Divided We Fall Together" appears in this volume, alongside work by Ray McNiece, Terry Provost, Maj Ragain, Daniel Thompson, Dianne Borsenik, Siaara Freeman, Shelley Chernin, Kisha Nicole Foster, Michael Salinger, Phil Terman, Larry Smith, Christine Howey, Michael Gill, Diane Vogel Ferri, Diana Lueptow, Toni Thayer, Byron Hoot, Jennifer Browne, Miles Budimir, Geoffrey Landis, Gillian Johns, Steven B. Smith, Lee Chilcote, Elana Pitts, Mary Weems, Russ Vidrick, Mimi Plevin-Foust, Geoff Polk, Michael Loderstadt, Jill Lange, Conor Bracken, Raja Belle Freeman, Bob Coughlin, Tim Richards, Doc Janning, Cora McCann Liderbach, Bonnie Jacobson, Charlene Fix, Alex Gildzen, Gail Bellamy, Stephen Bellamy, Nicole Hennessy, Tim Joyce, Linda Goodman Robiner, Leonard Trawick, Vladimir Swirynsky, Adrian Schnall, Nina Freedlander Gibans, Haley Schwenk, Cathy Barber, Robert Miltner, Amy Sparks, Laurie Kincer, Mary A. Turzillo, Elijah Perseus Blumov, Diane Kendig, John Donoghue, Steve Thomas, Mark Kuhar, Karen Schubert, Sara Holbrook, Philip Metres, Vince Robinson, Katie Daley, John Stickney, Joe Gizmo, Jim Szudy, Russell Atkins, Michelle R. Smith, RC Wilson, Darlene Montonaro, Steve Goldberg, Claire McMahon, Kathy Smith, Ben Gulyas, S. Renay Sanders, Bill Newby, Marilyn Oliveras de Ortiz, Laura Grace Weldon, George Bilgere, and many more.

Poem for Cleveland anthology release on 6/24

I'm happy and honored to have work in the fantastic Poem for Cleveland anthology curated by Ray McNiece and newly published by Red Giant. We hope you'll join us at the book release on Saturday 24 June 2023 from 2 to 4 pm at the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Avenue E.

More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/791491969152635.

Porcelains and Poetry in South Euclid: Rescheduled for Spring 2023

[UPDATE: due to unforeseen circumstances, this event will be be rescheduled for Spring 2023.]

On December 10th at 6:30 p.m., I'll have the privilege of being one of twelve area poets reading brand new ekphrastic work to raise funds for a very good cause. Porcelains & Poetry will be hosted by South Euclid Poet Laureate Doc Janning and One South Euclid at the Museum of American Porcelain Art.

From the press release:

"Enjoy readings by a dozen prominent local poets created in response to art at the American Museum of Porcelain Art with musical interludes by a string quartet from Charles F. Brush High School. Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be served. Proceeds from the fundraising event will support a One South Euclid program that helps senior residents age in place."

Buy your ticket at https://www.onesoutheuclid.org/event-details/porcelains-poetry.

Participating poets:

Doc Janning
Raja Belle Freeman
John Burroughs
Ray McNiece
Shelley Chernin
Amy Kesegich
Jeremy Jusek
Cat Russell
Russ Vidrick
Barbara Marie Minney
Mimi Plevin-Foust
Abdul Ghani

Museum of American Porcelain Art
4645 Mayfield Road
South Euclid, Ohio 44121

Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam featuring John Burroughs, Sunday 10/24

Next up! It's always fun to see Ray McNiece and the band perform (both by themselves and with other writers). And this month I get the honor of being their featured poet. Hope to see you there this Sunday! Please bring something (maybe spooky) to share during the open mic. Sunday 10/24/2021 at 6 p.m. Eastern.

From the press release:

Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam is back live at the Fillmore. Heights Poet Laureate Ray McNiece will host, with Al Moses on guitar, Nick Marino on bass, Michelle Clark on percussion and Tim Lachina on harmonica. Ohio Beat Poet Laureate John Burroughs will be our featured poet. Bring a poem to share (backed by the band if you wish) during the open mic.

Burroughs serves as the State of Ohio Beat Poet Laureate (2019-21). A nationally touring writer, his most recent books include Rattle & Numb: Selected and New Poems, 1992-2019 [2019, Venetian Spider Press] and Loss and Foundering [2018, NightBallet Press]. John recently curated the Poetry+ reading series in Lakewood, Ohio, and since 2008 has served as the founding editor of Crisis Chronicles Press.

 

[Photo of John at the Fillmore taken in 2019 by Sandra Feen.]

 

For more info on the Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam, contact Ray at mcnieceray@gmail.com.

 

Millard Fillmore Presidential Library
15619 Waterloo Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44110

Ekphrastacy: Artists Speak + Poets Respond (2/13 at Heights Arts)

Me reading at a previous Ekphrastacy in 2018
(photo courtesy of Heights Arts)

This Thursday, 13 February at 7 p.m. I will be one of four poets sharing new work in response to Heights Arts' new Point-Line-Pattern-Plane exhibition. The others will be Ray McNiece, Carson Evans and Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate Damien McClendon.

From the Heights Arts website:

"An exhibition of textile art curated by Janice Lessman-Moss, [Point-Line-Pattern-Plane] highlights a range of work being done by artists in NE Ohio using the distinctive materiality and processes associated with the medium of Fibers.  Although building on a foundation of traditional techniques, all the artists use the language of textiles to create objects of beauty and meaning, reflecting the sensibilities of our time.  Processes such as weaving, stitching and dyeing are used to develop form and surface, while repetition, accumulation, color and pattern are mined for content and character."

Artists featured in the exhibition are Laurie Addis, Elena Brebenel, Si-Yun Chang, Rebecca Cross, Hildur Asgeirsdottir Jonsson, Andrea Myers, Jessica Pinsky, and Katlin Shae.

Ekphrastacy: Artists Speak + Poets Respond

Heights Arts
2175 Lee Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118
https://www.heightsarts.org/

Poetry+ to feature Ray McNiece & Michelle R. Smith, 12/17 in Lakewood

Poetry Plus at Art on Madison will triple your pleasure on Tuesday, December 17th with readings by two acclaimed featured poets - Ray McNiece and Michelle R. Smith - plus an open mic. Doors open at 7 pm, with the show beginning promptly at 7:30.

Ray McNiece is the author of 9 books of poetry and monologues, including New Haiku and Love Song for Cleveland, a collaboration with photographer Tim Lachina. He’s toured Italy twice with Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He toured Russia with Yevgeny Yevtushenko and performed at the Moscow Polytech, the Russian Poets’ Hall of Fame, where he was dubbed “the American Mayakovsky.” The Orlando Sentinel, reporting on his solo theater piece Us—Talking across America at the Fringe Festival, called him “a modern day descendant of Woody Guthrie.”

Michelle R. Smith is a black femme feminist, media activist, and admitted Netflix addict that between fighting the good fight and watching copious stand-up specials, dark comedies, and music documentaries manages to write poems, tell stories, teach college and high school kids, and be a loving mother and wife. She is the author of the poetry collection Ariel in Black, and she is currently working on a new collection tentatively titled The Real Jazz Wives of 20th Century America and looking to publish a third collection, called The Vagina Analogues.

Open mic to follow the features, emceed by Ohio Beat Poet Laureate John Burroughs.

Please note: Poetry+ happens on the third Tuesday of each month. For more information, please visit our website at https://poetrypluscleveland.weebly.com.

Other upcoming Poetry+ features:

1/21 - Chuck Salmons (Columbus) & Renay Sanders (Peninsula)
2/18 - Bill Yarrow (Chicago) & Laura Grace Weldon (Litchfield)
3/17 - Leah Mueller (Tacoma WA) & Rikki Santer (Columbus)

Art on Madison
14203 Madison Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio 44107

Poetry Plus to Feature Steve Abbott & Leonard Kress on 11/19 in Lakewood

Acclaimed poets Steve Abbott and Leonard Kress

Poetry Plus at Art on Madison will triple your pleasure on November 19th with readings by two acclaimed featured poets - Steve Abbott (Columbus, OH) and Leonard Kress (Toledo, OH) - plus an open mic. Doors open at 7 pm, with poetry to begin promptly at 7:30.

Leonard Kress has published poetry and fiction in Missouri Review, Massachusetts Review, Iowa Review, American Poetry Review, Harvard Review, etc. His recent collections are The Orpheus Complex, and Walk Like Bo Diddley. Living in the Candy Store and Other Poems and his new verse translation of the Polish Romantic epic, Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz were both published in 2018. His latest book, Craniotomy, will appear soon (if it hasn't already). He teaches philosophy and religion at Owens Community College in Ohio.

Columbus native Steve Abbott has been a community activist, alternative newspaper writer and editor, criminal defendant, delivery truck driver, courtroom bailiff, private investigator, PR flack, and college professor. He was a founding member in 1984 of The Poetry Forum, now Ohio’s longest-running poetry series, and continues to co-host the weekly event. He is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in English of Columbus State Community College. His poems have appeared in dozens of literary journals as well as in several anthologies. He received an Ohio Arts Council Excellence Award in Poetry in 1993 and an OAC residency the following year at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. 

He has six poetry collections: five chapbooks, A Short History of the Word (1996) and Greatest Hits (2004), both from Pudding House; The Incoherent Pull of Want (NightBallet Press) and Why Not Be Here Now? (11thour Press) in 2016; and Kicking Mileposts in the Video Age (Moria Poetry, 2017). He has also recorded a live reading on CD titled Stardust in Franklin Park. He edited the anthologies Cap City Poets (Pudding House, 2008), a collection of 74 central Ohio poets, and Everything Stops and Listens (OPA Press, 2013), containing work by members of Ohio Poetry Association. His full-length collection A Green Line Between Green Fields was published in 2018, and a collection of ekphrastic poems, A Language the Image Speaks, was released in September. He also edits Ohio Poetry Association's annual journal Common Threads, and in 2015 he represented the OPA on the Ohio Arts Council panel selecting Ohio’s first Poet Laureate.

Open mic to follow the features, emceed by Ohio Beat Poet Laureate John Burroughs.

Poetry+ happens on the third Tuesday of each month. For more information, please visit: https://poetrypluscleveland.weebly.com.


Upcoming Poetry+ features:

11/19 - Steve Abbott (Columbus) & Leonard Kress (Toledo)
12/17 - Ray McNiece (Cleveland) & Michelle R. Smith (Cleveland)
1/21 - Chuck Salmons (Columbus) & Renay Sanders (Peninsula)
2/18 - Bill Yarrow (Chicago) & Laura Grace Weldon (Litchfield)
3/17 - Leah Mueller (Tacoma WA) & Rikki Santer (Columbus)

Art on Madison
14203 Madison Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
 

Publishing Poetry in Northeast Ohio: Roundtable, Readings, Book Fair

Join in a lively discussion with regionally and nationally known poetry publishers on Saturday April 13th at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

12:30-2:00 Roundtable

Representatives from Bottom Dog Press, Cleveland State University Press, Crisis Chronicles Press, NightBallet Press, Poet’s Haven, and University of Akron Press will share their thoughts and insights about publishing poetry and answer questions from the audience. Moderated by Bonné de Blas, an MFA Candidate in the Northeastern Ohio Master of Fine Arts program at Kent State University.

2:00-2:15 Break

Enjoy free refreshments while you browse the book fair, talk with local publishers, and check out their publications.

2:15-3:45 Readings

Several authors published by presses in today’s roundtable will read from their work. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Readers will include Phil Metres, Ray McNiece, Rikki Santer, Holli Rainwater, Robin Mullet, Larry Smith and more.

3:45-4:30 Book Fair

Browse the book fair, talk with local publishers, and check out their publications.

Cuyahoga County Public Library
South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch
1876 South Green Road
South Euclid, Ohio  44121
Phone 216-382-4880

This event is FREE and open to the public. Please RSVP at http://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/1408538.