Ohio Poetry Association Blog

In the spring and fall, Ohio Poetry Association sponsors a poetry retreat at Malabar Farm , in Lucas, Ohio. Participants stay at the hostel on the property, a wonderful old farm house managed by OPA member, Mark Sebastian Jordan. The retreats are now in their fifth year. It’s a time of writing, reflection in a peaceful pastoral setting, and reconnecting with other OPA members who share a passion for poetry. During each retreat a workshop leader directs the group in Friday evening and Saturday morning sessions on a specific topic with prompts. Individuals who want to, read their drafts and ideas. The group enjoys an evening potluck meal together and a scrumptious breakfast prepared by OPA Treasurer, Rinda Sansom in the large farm house kitchen. After the evening session, many gather in the basement living area to share poems in a round-robin fashion that can go late into the night. It’s nothing short of 18-20 hours of artistic bliss with poetry comrades in an idyllic setting. ...

"Whether we like it or not, we all come from someplace. And at some point in our lives, we have to make peace with that place." This quote from Jeffrey Stepakoff (from The Orchard ), one of several shared by workshop leader Diane Kendig last weekend, established the theme for the recent OPA Fall Writers Retreat at Malabar Farm. And this year's fall retreat reinforced for me why these events are my favorite that OPA sponsors. There are few places in Ohio that will move you--and give you room to move--to write. And how fitting Diane chose to lead workshops focused on poems of place, inspire also by her latest book, The Places We Find Ourselves . On day 1, the weekend challenged all in attendance to explore, through their poems, places they'd never written about--first by creating a list of those places and then approaching the poem with one of three focuses: Through meaningful description--making the place come alive. Exploring the significance of the place. Usi...