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OPA Ambassadors Report: SW Ohio with Manuel Iris

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Exciting news from Carolyn Kesterman — her debut poetry collection, In the Space Between Songs, is coming out November 12, 2025!

The paperback includes 54 poems, eight of which have already appeared in literary journals. Carolyn’s work explores the spaces between voice and silence, and this first book promises to be a beautiful addition to anyone’s poetry shelf.

You can learn more about her and her work at carolynkesterman.com.

Cathryn Essinger has had a wonderful year! Her poem “The Map Turtle” was included in the anthology The Nature of Our Times from Paloma Press, a project sponsored by the Wick Poetry Center. Even more exciting—the poem will be displayed on a standing poster at the Cleveland Public Library through April 2026.

Alissa Sammarco will be a featured poet at the Poet & Song Series on November 3, 2025, at the Falcon Theatre (Monmouth St., Newport, KY) from 7–9 p.m.

Later that month, on November 15, she’ll take part in Books by the Banks, joining a poetry discussion panel and signing copies of her first full-length collection, The Waiting Room (Turning Point, 2025).

Alissa has not one but two new books coming out this year:

  • The Waiting Room (Turning Point, 2025)
  • Italian Dinner Music (Turning Point, 2025)

And there’s more! Pre-sales are now open for her upcoming 2026 release, Paper Doll (Main Street Rag). You can pre-order here: Main Street Rag – Paper Doll.

Her 2024 chapbook Moon Landing Day (Finishing Line Press) was also recognized with the International Impact Book Award (2025)

Big news from Amanda Hayden — her second full-length poetry collection, Old World Wings: Poems of Europe, comes out in November 2025 from Wild Ink Publishing!

This collection takes readers across Europe through vivid imagery and lyrical reflection. It will be available through Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, and Amazon. You can check out more about Amanda and her work here: wild-ink-publishing.com/amanda-hayden.

Ellen Austin-Li has lots of good news to share! Her chapbook The Fourth Column: A Heroic Crown has been accepted for publication by Milk & Cake Press, with a March 2027 release date. One of the sonnets from that sequence, “At the Academy” (Sonnet XIII), appears in the anniversary issue of Stirring: A Literary Collection.

Ellen is also hitting the road this November to promote her collection Incidental Pollen (Madville Publishing). Here’s where you can catch her:

  • Nov. 1 (Sat.), 7–9 p.m. – Peripatetic Poets, Muse Café, Cincinnati, OH
  • Nov. 7 (Fri.) – Union Ave. Books, Knoxville, TN (with Susan O’Dell Underwood)
  • Nov. 14 (Fri.), 7 p.m. – Downtown Writers Center, Syracuse, NY (with Iain Haley Pollock)
  • Nov. 17 (Mon.) – Poetry: Near & Afar (Virtual reading with Anne Coen)

This update was provided by Manuel Iris.
image of Manuel Iris with Ohio Poetry Association logo and his title as Southwest Ohio Poetry Ambassdor


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Location: Ohio, USA

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