Ohio Poetry Association Blog

The deadline for the OPA Student Poetry Contests is just over a month away—January 15, 2016—and we hope our members and non-members will encourage their teenage children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and any high-school students in their lives to submit their poems to this free contest. But perhaps you’re unsure of how to get started. Thanks to OPA members Sandy Feen and Rikki Santer, we can offer an annotated bibliography of some of their terrific books for inspiring the writing of poetry. If you know Sandy and Rikki, or have heard them read their work at any number of poetry venues and open-mics, then you know that they’re wonderful poets. Both are also public high school teachers and creative writing instructors who are dedicated to the teaching of poetry in their own classrooms. And they’ve assembled the following annotated bibliography to aid others—such as teachers, parents, mentors—in working with young poets in creating their own poems. We think you’ll find the bibli...

As another year comes to an end, we reflect on events of the past twelve months but also on the year to come. And OPA has an exciting year of programming planned for 2016. Our quarterly workshops will cover a wide range of poetry styles and topics. Becca Lachman will work with attendees to explore how poetry plays a role in our pursuit of peace, community, and social justice. And renowned artists John and Cathy Bennett will lead an exploration of the avant garde. We also have a great slate of special events lined up. In February, we’ll continue our series of ekphrastic poetry workshops at the Toledo Museum with Cindy Bosley. And in the mid-June, riding the tide of a successful reading this past September, you can join OPA as it takes part in the Summer Solstice Celebration at Serpent Mound in Adams County, where we’ll again feature some of Ohio’s top poets and honor voices of the past. Our writers’ retreats at Malabar Farm will feature two respected poets and educat...

On September 26, 2015, The Ohio Poetry Association sponsored the “Voices from the Past,” reading at Serpent Mound State Memorial in conjunction with the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System (AAPS). You can read all about it by clicking this link . Here are some additional photos from that event taken by Kari Gunter-Seymour. David and Guilda LaClerc Altman Kimberlee Medicine Horn Jackson Kari Gunter-Seymour Connie Willett Everett Steve Abbott Kathleen Burgess Jack Burgess Mark Hersman Kerry Trautman Chuck Salmons

On Saturday, October 10, 2015, at Otterbein College, Neil Carpathios provided those who attended the OPA quarterly business meeting and workshop an inspiring afternoon of poetry. His focus was on how to make your poems more original, and how to make them stand out in the crowd.  Creating delightful, surprising poetry is something Carpathios does well. He has three books of poems:   Playground of Flesh (Main Street Rag), At the Axis of Imponderables (winner of the Quercus Review Press Book Award), and Beyond the Bones (FutureCycle Press). He also is the author of several award-winning chapbooks and recently was named the winner of the 2015 Slipstream Press Poetry Competition for his collection, The Function of Sadness , which will be published in autumn of 2015.  In keeping with the dictum that says, to be a good writer you must be a good reader, we asked Carpathios to provide us with a list of the ten books he would take with him if he were stranded on a des...

In a recent article in The Atlantic , titled,   “Why Teaching Poetry is so Important,” Andrew Simmons wrote, "Poetry enables teachers to teach their students how to write, read, and understand any text. Poetry can give students a healthy outlet for surging emotions. Reading original poetry aloud in class can foster trust and empathy in the classroom community, while also emphasizing speaking and listening skills that are often neglected in high school literature classes. ” Sara Abou Rashed, OPA Grand Prize winner in the 2014-15  contests reads  her poetry at the annual picnic. Sara is from  Centennial High School.  Her teacher was Sarah E. Barry. The Ohio Poetry Association has long recognized the value of encouraging young people to participate in poetry.   For the past thirty-three years, we have been sponsoring an annual student poetry contest. This year’s contest brings opportunities for prizes and publication across ten categor...