Ohio Poetry Association Blog

In Retrospect (April – July 2026) To hold space is to lend your support and to make a significant difference. When our faces or names show up to share and listen, our voices, live or virtually always matter.  With that being said this quarterly report is a review of poetry scene shared on social media between April to July 2026 in Northwest Ohio, allowing poets and poetry lovers to be in the know about poetical events and aha moments.  Disclaimer: Some events are not mentioned due to being missed or me not being aware of it. All venues took place in Toledo, Ohio, unless otherwise provided. Kicking off National Poetry Month and showering us with APRIL poetics in and around Northwest Ohio came Natasha Trethewey (April 2 – University of Toledo Law Center), the former U.S. Poet Laureate. She gave a robust reading to an intimate audience and subsequent book signing. Sylvania Writes Out Loud (April 3 – Erin Ann's, Sylvania) hosted its one-year anniversary with an open mic of al...

SE Ohio Open Mics, Workshops, Festivals, Bookfairs, and Open Readings : “Words on Wednesdays,” open mic from 6:30 – 8:30 pm for authors, including poetry, fiction, memoirists, and singer-songwriters, hosted by former Athens Poet Laureate, Stephanie Kendrick, the second Wed. of every month at the SideBar. Sign-up at 6pm “ Designated Space ” poetry, fiction, memoir, spoken word at Donkey Coffee and Espresso, every Tuesday evening from 9:00pm – 11:30 pm. Athens Poetry Group meets every second Tuesday at the Athens County Public Library The Landing in Portsmouth, OH: Open Mic for spoken word, poetry, etc. on the third Thurs. of each month.  Upcoming features include Daniel Lasalle (July 23) and Damian Russel (August). Contact Kevin LeMaster on Facebook for more info. ALAS (Appalachian Literary Arts and Storytelling Festival) in Nelsonville, OH, on October 3 & 4, 2026. For information check this link   Call for Work: Sheila-Na-Gig editions is currently open for submissions for...

The northwestern part of Ohio has been all the buzz of events and accolades all around. In the ars poetica sphere is a chyron, moving and peaking our listening ears. So, I will do my best to recap a listing of events over the past few months. In fact, the summer months have been such a blur of motion, it seems that every nook and cranny in NW Ohio, particularly Toledo, is releasing rich and powerful words into the atmosphere; inundated with mood, metaphor, meter, and meaning. So much so that my Poet Ambassador’s Corner newsletter has taken a pause to share  only  the happenings that have flooded my feed on Facebook. If any event or celebration has slipped through unseen, charge it to my head and not my heart. Viva la Poetry! It will never cease or become missing in action.  Here is a loose documentation of NW Ohio’s poetry scene: past, present and approaching. Please note ongoing events: WritersShop and Uncloistered events are graciously hosted by Lucas County Poet La...

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...

The Ohio Poetry Day Association has selected Barbara Sabol and Erica Reid as our 2024 Ohio Poets of the Year. Congratulations to these two amazing writers! Barbara Sabol was selected for her book of poems, WATERMARK: Poems of the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 (Alternating Current Press, 2023) .  The poems in WATERMARK follow the path of the “great flood,” from the time prior to the perfect storm of events resulting in the disaster to the devastating aftermath and the reclamation of a bustling industrial city. The book is a poetic testimony of the great flood story through voices of the unidentified victims; their circumstances and lives imagined from morgue entries. The narrative also paints the backdrop of recovery and renewal, in the voices of survivors, telegraphers, aid workers, and historical figures such as Clara Barton. Watermark is a lyric narrative of this country’s largest and most dramatic flood of the 19th century, told from the perspective of those whose lives it ...