Skip to main content

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

By



 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
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Spotlight: Karen Schubert - Poetry of Hybridity (podcast transcript S2, E4)

By
Jeremy Jusek: Welcome to Poetry Spotlight presented by the Ohio Poetry Association. I am your host, Jeremy Jusek. And with us today is Karen Schubert. Karen Schubert Karen is an author, co-founding director of Literary Youngstown, and multi-genre talented writer who has published poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, reviews, interviews, and any other views you might consider. She's published six books, and her prose poem collection I Left My Winds on a Chair was the Wick Poetry Center poetry winner. Her awards include the William Dickey Memorial Broadside Award, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in Poetry, and has held residencies at the Headlands Center for the Arts and the Vermont Studio Center. To learn more about Karen, please visit karenschubertpoetry.com . Karen, thank you so much for joining us. Karen Schubert: Oh this is such a kick, thanks so much for bringing me on. I’m honored and chuffed. JJ: Thank you! The pleasure’s all mine. Do you wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

2026 Ohio Poetry Day Contests Now Open for Submissions

By
Our friends at the Ohio Poetry Day Association have announced their annual contests!  May 15, 2026, is the deadline (postmark)  for 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 2026  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 2026 will take place in October in Toledo, Ohio. Stay up to date on event 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 image below to view it at full size.
Read more

Odes of October 2025 Contest Winners Announced

By
OPA is pleased to announce the following winners in its 2025 Odes of October contest. First prize is awarded for "Lemons in the Seventeenth Century," by Marci Rich. First prize includes an award of $65 and inclusion in the 2026 issue of Common Threads, as well being published below. Second prize goes to John Hunt for his poem, "Only the Blues." This prize includes an award of $25, will be published in the 2026 issue of Common Threads, and appears below. Third prize goes to Jonathan Smith for "40 Leaves.". This prize includes an award of $10, will be published in the 2026 issue of Common Threads, and appears below. This year, the judge also chose four poems for Honorable Mention: Shirley Valencia's poem, "Oblivion" Rosalie Hendon's poem, "Penelope to Odysseus" Jo Anne Moser Gibbon's poem, "I Contain Multitudes" Jonathan Smith's poem, "Where Jane Goodall Stood" Sincerest than...
Read more