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Rikki Santer named 2023 Ohio Poet of the Year

The Ohio Poetry Day Association (OPDA) has selected Rikki Santer as its Ohio Poet of the Year for 2023. Santer was selected for her book of poems, Resurrection Letter: Leonora, Her Tarot, and Me (Materialist Press/Cereal Box Studio, 2023), a book-length sequence in tribute to the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington. A resident of Columbus, Ohio, Santer has had published five full-length poetry collections and six chapbook sequences exploring such topics as the Hopewell earthworks of Newark, Ohio; the late Kahiki Supper Club of Columbus, Ohio; the world of ventriloquism, the art of fashion, and the classic television series Twilight Zone . She is a member of the teaching artist roster of the Ohio Arts Council, a vice president of the Ohio Poetry Association, and a member of the poetry troupe, Concrete Wink. Her poetry has been widely published and has received many honors including several Pushcart and Ohioana book award nominations as well as a fellowship from the National Endowmen
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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

2023 Ohio Poetry Day Contests Now Open

Our friends at the Ohio Poetry Day Association have announced their annual contests!  May 15, 2023, is the deadline (postmark)  for nearly two dozen contest categories. Categories include humor, formal poems, parody and more. As always, a “Welcome Aboard” category for first-time submitters and an art category to design the cover art for the 2023  Best of Ohio Poetry Day  anthology are also open to submissions.  Below is a copy of the submission form, which provides full contest information.  Ohio Poetry Day 2023 will take place in October. Stay up to date on OPD information, including the event date, location, and agenda, by getting your name and address on the OPD mailing list. To do so, contact: Amy Jo Zook 3520 State Route 56 Mechanicsburg, OH 43044 Checks for all contest fees and purchases should be made payable to: Ohio Poetry Day . For questions, call (937) 834-2666. Click and download the images below to view them at full size.

Poetry Spotlight: Hanif Abdurraqib - Poetry of Responsible Curation (podcast transcript S2, E20)

Jeremy Jusek: Welcome to  Poetry Spotlight  presented by the Ohio Poetry Association. I am your host Jeremy Jusek. And with us today is Hanif Abdurraqib. Photo by Andrew Cenci Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in  Muzzle, Vinyl, PEN American,  and various other journals. His essays and music criticism have been published in  The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker , and  The New York Times.  His first full length poetry collection,  The Crown Ain't Worth Much ,  was named a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Prize, and was nominated for a Hurston-Wright Legacy Award. His first collection of essays,  T hey Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us , was released in winter 2017 by Two Dollar Radio and was named a book of the year by  Buzzfeed, Esquire, NPR, Oprah Magazine, Paste, CBC, The Los Angeles Review, Pitchfork,  and  The Chicago Tribune , among others. He released   Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Cal

OPA again hosting Ohio Poetry Day Celebration in 2022

The Ohio Poetry Association (OPA) will again be hosting a virtual celebration of Ohio Poetry Day (OPD) this year, featuring the Ohio Poet of the Year and poetry contest winners. The event will be held on Zoom and broadcast live on the OPA Facebook page on Saturday, October 15 beginning at 12:30 PM. Full event details and registration info is available here . The 2022 Ohio Poet of the year is Erica Manto-Paulson, chosen for her collection, Hunger   (Finishing Line Press, 2021). Paulson’s poems have appeared in Thimble Literary Magazine, Sheila Na Gig, the Northern Appalachia Review, Slippery Elm, and elsewhere. She was a 2021 Pushcart Nominee, and her work has also been featured on NPR's "Conrad’s Corner" (WYSO).  An Ohio native, Erica is a doula and childbirth educator, which drives her ongoing obsession with birth in its many forms. She finds inspiration for her poetry in the fertile fields of her home state, drawing on a deep connection to the surrounding world. She

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 organ

OPA Student Contest Winners for 2022 Announced

The Ohio Poetry Association (OPA) is pleased to announce the winners and honorable mentions of the 2022 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, which will be distributed to the participating schools. 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. Voices from the Past Sponsor: Mark Hersman — Judge: Jessica Weyer Bentley 1 st     Brooke McCroskey (Jefferson Area High School)          2 nd    Becky Smith (Buckeye High School) 3 rd     Madison Palmer (Buckeye Local High School)   Ethos Sponsor and Judge: Chuck Salmons 1 st     Annie Johnson (Dublin Coffman High School) 2 nd   James Z