Skip to main content

Featured Poets at the 2015 Ohio Poetry Association Picnic and Business Meeting – Part 2

By
Last week, we shared responses provided by Kerry Jensen Trautman, one of the three featured poets who will be reading at the 2015 Ohio Poetry Association Picnic, to our five questions about the writing process. This week, we’re sharing responses from poet, Steve Brightman. 


Steve Brightman

Do you draw inspiration from other poetry? If so, whose and why?

I draw inspiration from whatever is willing to offer its vein(s) to me: poetry, the weather, baseball, people I know, people I don't know, historical personae, the trees (my family's and the ones outside my window), words, numbers...

What three words best describe your own poetry? 

taut, accessible, concrete

Do you have a writing routine? If so, describe it briefly.

I do have a routine. I write every day. literally. Last week was the 2000th day in a row I've written a poem. Not all of them are good or deserve to see the light of day, necessarily, but they're poems. And they are strung together consecutively on Facebook. my routine is fairly simple. I sit down (usually in the dark) and unspool all the images/thoughts/noteworthy moments from that day in front of me (figuratively). I sift through those, frame the one I like most, and find a well-lit spot for it.

Aside from poetry, what do you like to read?

fiction. Colum McCann is big favorite of mine right now. I'm reintroducing myself to Margaret Atwood, too. I'm also partial to spending too much time reading garbage on the internet.  Oh, and Entertainment Weekly and my bills and baseball cards...


What other activities do you enjoy (e.g., art, cooking, music) that may/may not influence your writing?

driving, watching baseball, people-watching, listening


***

Steve Brightman lives in Akron, Ohio. He firmly believes in two seasons: winter and baseball. His first full length collection The Wild Gospel of Careening and Other Sermons from the Rumble Strip was recently released by Red Orchid Publishing. His chapbook History, Too, Is a Simple Machine will be unleashed upon the public in 2015 by NightBallet Press.

                                                                ~

Remember, the picnic be held at, Jeffrey Park, Memorial Shelter, 1965 N. Parkview Ave., Bexley, Ohio 43209. A short business meeting will be conducted from 10:30 - 11:30 am. The carry-in style picnic will be from noon until 3:45. At 1 pm, poets Kerry Jensen Trautman, Steve Brightman, and Wendy McVicker, as well as Student Voices winners and other special guests, will read poetry. There is an open mic too, so bring a poem or two to share.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

By
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
Read more

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

By
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. 
Post a Comment
Read more

OPA 2023 Student Contest Winners

By
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
Post a Comment
Read more