Skip to main content

Don’t miss the Annual OPA All-Star Picnic on Saturday, July 9, 2016




 Share your ideas with people of like-mind and get motivated by their encouragements and experiences.Israelmore Ayivor, Shaping the Dream


This year’s July OPA Quarterly Business Meeting and All-Star Picnic will be held at the beautiful Jeffrey Park, Memorial Shelter located at 165 N. Parkview Ave., Bexley, Ohio 43209
 
The park is a 40-acre recreation area on the east side of Columbus, complete will all the amenities—hiking trails, playground for children, kayak and canoe ramp, tennis courts, and restroom facilities—the perfect setting for this year’s annual outdoor poetry event. The picnic is open to OPA members and their friends and family, or anyone who is looking for a great afternoon of potluck and poetry. It’s that time of the year when in the beautiful out-of-doors, we can share our ideas and words with people of like-mind and get motivated.


An original watercolor painting by Deb Grenert will be raffled.
The program promises to be wonderful: Ohio poets communing with fellow poets in a casual setting, featured readers, contest winners, and special guests. There will be raffles—including the grand prize of the original watercolor painting by Deb Grenert, used as the cover of the 2013 issue of Common Threads. And of course, we’ll have an open-mic where members and guests will be invited to share a poem of their own. As usual, the event is a potluck, so bring your favorite dish to share. Also bring a beverage. Paper plates, napkins, cutlery, and cups will be provided.

Featured All-Star Readers


Our featured poets will include Darren C. Demaree and Sharon Fish Mooney who will be reading from their recently published books. 

Darren C. Demaree
Darren C. Demaree is the author of five poetry collections, most recently The Nineteen Steps Between Us (After the Pause, 2016). He is the Managing Editor of the Best of the NetAnthology. Currently, he is living in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife and children.

Members may recognize the name of Sharon Fish Mooney, who is the chairwoman of the OPA high school poetry contests. Sharon will read from her new book, Bending Toward Heaven – Poems After the Art of Vincent van Gogh (Wipf and Stock/Resource Publications, 2015). Sharon won the inaugural Frost Farm Prize for metrical poetry. She also is currently editing an ekphrastic anthology of poems by Ohio poets on art in Ohio for the Ohio Poetry Association. She teaches research online for Regis University and Indiana Wesleyan and lives in Scio, Ohio.
Sharon Fish Mooney

Other poets featured will be the Ides of March Contest winner, Benjamin Dugger, and winning student poets from this year’s OPA High School Contests. We hope to see you all there next Saturday. 
 

Parking

 
There is parking and access to the Memorial Shelter by using the Clifton Avenue entrance, just west of Parkview Avenue. You can also park in the Jeffrey Mansion parking lot off Parkview Avenue and then walk down to the park behind the mansion.





© 2016 Ohio Poetry Association

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ohio Underground Railroad Whistle-Stop Poetry Tour Kicks Off in Portsmouth

The Ohio Poetry Association (OPA) in partnership with Poets Against Racism & Hate USA (PARH USA) will conduct a whistle-stop poetry tour of historic Underground Railroad stations throughout Ohio. The inaugural program takes place from 10 AM to 5:30 PM on Saturday, February 24, at the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center , 825 Gallia Street, Portsmouth. With the help of the organizations’ members and community partners, OPA and PARH USA will present a series of poetry readings at historic sites throughout 2024. Each site will feature poets and poems that honor Ohio’s legacy on the Underground Railroad and that raise awareness of issues of social justice, hate, and prejudice. A special capstone event will take place on December 7 at the Ohio History Connection in Columbus. The event will include morning poetry workshops for adults and children, followed by poetry readings and a presentation on the history of Portsmouth’s role in the Underground Railroad. A walking tour of se...

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 n...

OPA and PARH USA Receive Grant for Ohio Underground Railroad Whistle-Stop Poetry Tour

OHIO POETRY ASSOCIATION INC., in conjunction with POETS AGAINST RACISM & HATE USA, Awarded the Trillium Local Activity Grant for Program Commemorating America’s 250th Anniversary The project is one of 61 community-based projects funded through the America 250-Ohio Commission’s second round of grants, totaling $600,000 In the lead up to America’s 250th anniversary, Ohio Poetry Association Inc., in conjunction with Poets Against Racism & Hate USA, announced today that it received a Trillium Local Activity Grant from the America 250-Ohio Commission for its project titled “ Ohio Underground RailroadWhistle-Stop Poetry Tour .” This series of events takes place at Underground Railroad–related sites around Ohio and features poetry readings, social justice writing workshops, and cultural programming. The purpose of the project is to acknowledge that all of us, knowingly or not, share a history of racism that has informed art and vice versa so that we may return to our homes, office...