Ohio Poetry Association Blog

Poet Gary Ketchum selected first place winner of the 2020 prize; OPA's Susann Moeller earns Honorable Mention The National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS) is pleased to announce the 1st place winner of the 2020 BlackBerryPeach Spoken and Heard competition, Gary Ketchum of New Port Richey, Florida. The BlackBerryPeach Contest is a major NFSPS competition that challenges poets to present their best original poetry in print and spoken word. This year's judge, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer comments, "Poetry began, after all, as an oral and aural art and I love the way this contest harkins to those origins." A record number of entries this year is proof that interest in spoken word poetry continues to grow. Florida led the nation in number of entries, followed by Colorado and Ohio. The second-place winner is Jessica Hassell of New Jersey, and third place goes to Amanda Bailey of Minnesota. The Honorable Mention Award winners are Josh Conklin of New Hampshir

The Ohio Poetry Day Association (OPDA) is now accepting nominations for Ohio Poet of the Year. Handed out annually since 1976, the award is given for a single collection of poems. The award is based on the one book and not on an aggregation of work published over some time. Nomination guidelines: Poets may not self-nominate. Books can be offered by others: a publisher or editor, a college faculty or member thereof, a writers' or poets' organization, any other person of poetic standing in the state, or from the lists of books newly published that are put out by the Ohioana Library several times a year. The poet must be a native or a resident of Ohio, or if neither, must have lived in Ohio long enough to have formed serious ties to the state. (The list of former winners of Poet of the Year is below.) The nominated book must be longer than a chapbook (i.e., more than 48 pages) and not a "collected" or "complete" works. The book may be from a commercial o