Columbus Foundation Continues Support of OPA for Eleventh Year

Recently, OPA was awarded a grant from The Columbus Foundation for general operating support in the final year of a three-year funding cycle.

A total of $3,033 is provided to OPA from the Virginia D. Granat Fund with the assistance of the Ingram-White Castle Foundation. This grant marks the eleventh consecutive year that OPA has garnered assistance from The Columbus Foundation.

“We cannot thank enough The Columbus Foundation and its leadership for its continuing confidence in OPA,” said OPA President Chuck Salmons. “The Foundation’s support affords us the ability to thrive and provide the poetry community and its members with fantastic opportunities to learn and grow as artists.”

OPA has earned Foundation support annually since establishing a profile with the philanthropic organization in 2010 on The Columbus Foundation website and what is now called The Giving Store.

Billed as “Your one-stop shop for charitable giving,” The Giving Store offers an extensive directory of nonprofit organizations based and doing work in central Ohio. Potential donors can search these listings for charities and nonprofits that they want to support and then donate with the simple click of a button.

To view the OPA profile or to donate, visit The Giving Store website at columbusfoundation.org/the-giving-store and search “Ohio Poetry Association.”

The Ohio Poetry Association gratefully acknowledges The Columbus Foundation for its continued support.

Casting a Line for Susan Glassmeyer's 'Invisible Fish'

by Chuck Salmons If you haven’t heard by now, OPA member and Cincinnati poet Susan Glassmeyer is the winner the Ohio Poetry Day Association’s 2018 Poet of the Year award, for her first full-length collection, Invisible Fish (Dos Madres Press, 2018). On the heels of her winning, I corresponded with her to find out more about the collection and her writing process. CS: First of all, congratulations on the award! Having read Invisible Fish, I know this is an honor that is well-deserved. How does it feel to have your name among past winners such as Mary Oliver, David Baker, and David Citino? SG: I was truly surprised to win this award, Chuck. I did some research after the fact and learned about the history of the award. What an honor to be part of this venerable Ohio poet lineage! I already own a few of the books on the list, not realizing the authors had previously won the award. And although I have many of Mary Oliver’s books, Twelve Moons (winner in 1980) was not among

Ohio Poetry Day Association names 2021 Poet of the Year and Contest Winners

The Ohio Poetry Day Association (OPDA) has selected Quartez Harris as its Ohio Poet of the Year for 2021. Harris was selected for his book of poems, We Made It to School Alive (Twelve Arts Press, 2020). Residing in Cleveland, Ohio, Harris is a second-grade teacher at Michael R. White Elementary School. We Made It to School Alive, his second collection of poetry, was inspired by his work as a teacher and gives voice to the experiences of the children he works with every day who deal with issues of gun violence, poverty, educational challenges, and more. Harris’ first book, N othing, But Skin, was published in 2014 by Writing Knights Press. He is the first recipient of the Barbara Smith Writer-In-Resident at Twelve Literary Arts and a 2020 Baldwin House Fellow. He has been featured in the Plain Dealer, IdeaStream, and City Club of Cleveland, and recently signed on to be represented by Mckinnon Literary Agency. His works in progress are a young-adult novel and picture book biography.

OPA 2023 Student Contest Winners

The Ohio Poetry Association (OPA) is pleased to announce the winners and honorable mentions of the 2023 High School Poetry Contests. Eligible poems were sent to the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Inc. Manningham Trust Student Poetry Contest. All winning poems receive monetary awards and publication in an OPA chapbook. The grand prize-winning poem will be published in the 2024 issue of Common Threads , OPA's annual anthology. We sincerely thank each contest sponsor and judge and congratulate the teachers from each school with student winning poems and honorable mentions. Special thanks to contest coordinator Jessica Weyer-Bentley for all her hard work to coordinate this year’s contests. GRAND PRIZE WINNER "Dementia" - Austin Blake, Buckeye Local H.S. Teacher: Stephanie Crust Category 1. Ethos Sponsor and Judge: Chuck Salmons 1st: "I Set Myself to Sound" - Diana Zhang (The Seven Hills School) 2nd: "Dora" - Anna Kunkel (The Seven Hills

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