Meet the judges!

 

I didn't want to be selecting the poems for the 40 Over 40 anthology (submit here!) myself and turn this into a collection of my personal favorite things. It was important to me to assemble a judging panel of brilliant, talented poets with different styles to help compile a great collection. It was also important to me to make sure that we had a blind judging process.

I could not be more excited that all three of these individuals wanted to be part of this project. Below, get to know a little about them and--most importantly if you're submitting--what they look for when reading poems.

 

Michelle R. Smith is a writer, poet, educator, cultural facilitator, and native Clevelander. She is the Programming Director for Literary Cleveland. She is the author of the poetry collections Ariel in Black (2015) and The Vagina Analogues (2020). She has been published in The Normal School, The Gasconade Review, New Note Poetry, Merge Magazine, and io Literary Magazine.

Michelle says: "I appreciate soul, song, story, sensory detail, and spareness in poetry. I like emotionality, elegance, intelligence, and craftsmanship."
 
 
Shaneen Harris’s works include Reflections of My Thoughts: I used to believe in unicorns, and I still do, Because God Said So, and Simply Complex (spoken word CD). Her poem “Clergy Woman Eats Her Shadow” was a finalist in the Wolverine Farm Broadside Poetry Prize. Her writings have appeared in Postcard Poems and Prose Magazine, Rubbertop Review, Crab Orchard Review: Ka-Ching the Money Issue, Watershed Review, Rattle, and the Tampa Review. She served as host of Poetry Unchained and TBN’s Joy in Our Town and Co-Editor of When There Are Nine. Shaneen’s married and the proud momma of three adult children.

Shaneen says what she looks for in poetry is "the poem's ability to make me believe that it is the originator. For instance, if it’s a poem about love, it’s written in a way that is a fresh perspective. I also look at the word choice and flow of the poem. More complexity isn’t always deeper on meaning. Did the last word of a line make me want to read the next one?"

 

 

Steve Brightman lives in Akron OH. His most recent full-length collection of poems, The Circus of His Bones (Kung Fu Treachery Press), is a pandemic baby, birthed in 2020. Other collections of his include The Wild Gospel of Careening and Other Tales from the Rumble Strip, Leaving the Flatlands to the Amateurs, In Brilliant Explosions Alone, and 13 Ways of Looking at Lou Reed.
 

When asked what he looks for in a poem, Steve says:

"It’s a short list, but a big ask.

1) I want to see the specific in a universal way

2) I want to see the universal in a specific way

3) I want to see the world reflected back to me or revealed to me in a way I haven’t yet seen"

 

Now that you've met the judges, plan your submissions and send them in before April 30th!
Submit here!

Peace,
T

Meet the workshop leaders!

As part of the 40 Over 40 project, I also wanted to include poetry workshops to foster the craft of writing. I didn't want this project to only be about publishing a book. Full stop. I wanted the project to be about poetry in the community. I wanted some place for people to find fresh inspiration, or to explore the craft in a safe space, even without any poetry experience.

And I am thrilled to have Diane Kendig and Barbara Sabol on board to teach two upcoming workshops. Diane will be talking about the list poem, but looking at it in new ways you've never considered. Barbara will be sharing her thoughts on the ode, and how adaptable and relevant it is to modern poetry.


Both workshops will take place at Summit Artspace (140 E. Market Street, Akron, OH) at 2pm. Bring a pen and notebook (or laptop, if you prefer) and an excitement to explore new poetry ideas.



Saturday, March 15 - LISTING, with Diane Kendig

Lists, whether you make them down the page or in a cloud, get us started, keep us on track, and
send us off to get our work done. In poetry, first, of course, there is the list poem. Like
Christopher’s long list of his cat’s tributes, Jubilate agno. But there are contemporary poems that
use the idea of lists, like Nancy Willard’s “Questions My Son Asked Me, Answers I Never Gave
Him.” And poems that have lists within them but aren’t all lists, like Lynn Powell’s “Blue.”
We are going to start by brainstorming some lists. Then we will look at different types of list-
inspiring poems and turn our storm into poems asea, listing perhaps as they sail.


Diane Kendig‘s latest books are Woman with a Fan and Prison Terms, and she co-edited the tribute anthology, In the Company of Russell Atkins. Kendig led the University of Findlay creative writing program including a prison writing workshop for 18 years and now back home in Canton, she curates Cuyahoga County Public Library’s weblog “Read + Write” and writes for “Free Poetry Cleveland.”


Saturday, April 26 - The Ode, with Barbara Sabol

The Ode: Considering the Contemporary Praise Poem
In this workshop we will briefly review the history of the ode as a form of lyric praise, discuss
features of the contemporary ode (and anti-ode) with reference to example poems, and engage in
writing and sharing our own odes.

Barbara Sabol was named Ohio Poet of the Year for her collection, WATERMARK (Alternating
Current Press, 2023.) Her book, IMAGINE A TOWN, won the 2019 Sheila-Na-Gig Editions
Poetry Prize. Other honors include an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council.
She conducts workshops through Literary Cleveland and the Cuyahoga Falls Library. Barbara
lives in Akron, Ohio with her bird carver husband and wonder dog.

I hope to see at one or both of these upcoming workshops!
Life, Love, Light,
T

Submission link is live!

 Send your poems here!

When you want something to happen, sometimes you need to do it yourself

The world is a weird place right now. I've found myself swinging wildly from heartbroken anger, to creative excitement, and the artists in my life keep reminding me that both are important, that we need the art to remind us about what we're fighting for.

So I'm sharing about this project that will be taking up a large portion of my time in 2025.

40 Over 40: A Poetry Anthology

I'm going to publish an anthology of local poets, in Summit and surrounding counties, who are over 40 years old.

The idea came to me a few years ago when I was scanning submission listings for various prizes, awards, and fellowships, many of which were targeted at young writers, and thinking about those lists that have titles like, "30 writers under 30 to watch!" I realized that I was aging out of those kinds of recognitions. I started wondering about people who don't come to their craft until later in life. I started thinking about people who don't have the name recognition, but have put in the time to learn their craft. Life doesn't stop at 30. Some of us are just finding our feet under us in our 40s or even later.

When you want to see something happen, sometimes you need to do it yourself.

I put the idea out into the world and applied for an ArtsForward grant, and in a head-snapping who-what-me way, ArtsNow gave me the money to do it!

So I'm thrilled that I have the opportunity to make this anthology happen, in the WAY I want to make it happen. I wanted to recognize poets over 40 (we're not asking how MUCH over 40!) writing exciting work, and to pay those who are accepted into the anthology (more on that in the follow ups about submission details). I wanted to make sure that I had the ability to compensate everyone who was involved for their time--not just in copies, but in a way that says your work and expertise is valued.

If I was going to do this, I wanted to do it the right way. And ArtsNow is giving me that opportunity.


A few dates to note right now:

March 1-April 30 - Submissions will be open! Submissions are free! I will be posting the link everywhere, but it will also be on this page!

March 15 and April 26 at 2pm, we will be hosting two FREE community poetry workshops at Summit Artspace! If you need inspiration, or just want to create some work, we'll have two guest teachers leading you through some exercises to help you create new poems. These classes will be just one more way to support writers (and anyone curious about learning more about writing poetry) in the community. Diane Kendig will be teaching on 3/15, and Barbara Sabol will be teaching on 4/26!

I'll be sharing more exciting details soon, so stay tuned to this page here. But start looking for the poems you want to submit to the anthology.

Life, Love, and Light.
T

Looking back on 2024, and forward to 2025

Early in 2024, I had the opportunity to teach a four-week writing workshop to a group of middle school students participating in Proyecto RAICES, a program for Hispanic and Latinx students. I never thought much about teaching before, and never really expected to teach younger kids. But the chance to use poetry out in the world hooked me, and I said yes. I had no lesson plans, I'd be starting from scratch. All I had was poetry, and a few vague ideas I'd been incubating for a while. And fear. New things, even if they're good things, are always scary. Even if your only audience is a dozen middle school kids whose opinions will neither make nor break you, it's still scary.

I did my best not to have any expectations about what the kids knew or had already been exposed to, or for what kind of work we might create together. But with some help and some flexibility--on my part and theirs--we wrote poetry together.

Teaching those sessions ended up being one of the most positive experiences I've ever had with poetry.

I learned so much from those kids, about what works and doesn't in a teaching setting, how to pivot and adapt on my feet when something isn't working. That where adults will politely go along with something even if a lesson is falling flat, kids will make it known when they're bored or disinterested--or when they're absolutely engaged--if not through their words then their behavior and body language. And if they weren't engaged, that was my problem, not theirs. They were excited when I was excited.

The program was made possible by a grant from ArtsForward, and I'm so grateful to them and to Yoly Miller for inviting me to be part of the project. You can read some of the poems written in our workshops at Proyecto Letras.

In 2025, I will be putting together an anthology of poetry from local poets, also funded by ArtsForward. This organization has been funding some exciting new projects in the Akron area, and I'm eager to bring forth this literary project. I'll be putting together a "40 over 40" anthology of poets--in contrast with so many "30 under 30" lists--to celebrate the talent of experienced poets in Summit County and surrounding areas, as well as some other writing events surrounding the book and its release next summer. Stay tuned for announcements about poetry submissions.

I'm so grateful to ArtsForward for the opportunity to make this happen, and I feel blessed to be in the place I am at the time that I am. I'm not overlooking that Akron has plenty of challenges and pain, but I also believe that the art we have, the talented people we have, the good we have here, when harnessed, can also heal and meet those challenges.

Peace in 2025.

A few thoughts on process...

Ohio has always been my home. I've done a fair amount of travel, but I've never lived outside of northeast Ohio. This place is home. It's where the people and things I know and love exist. It is comfort. Have I always loved Ohio? Love for a place is a strange idea. I love the people. I love the communities that have been built here. I love my family. I love my friends. I love my house. But do I love Ohio? I don't know if that's something I would have said a year ago.

In 2023, I had the chance to hear Adrian Matejka on book tour, and he said that when he's writing a poem, something needs to surprise him. It was something that I already knew in my bones, but I had never verbalized it or thought about it in that exact way, in those exact words. When I sit down knowing exactly where the poem is going and what it's going to say, it might end up being an okay poem, but it is never a good poem. The good poems, the best poems, start with me expecting it to take one route, and then the poem taking me on a completely different journey. Poets know that the best poems are written when the poem, not the poet, is in control.

So when Dee Fairweather reached out to Mary Defer and me about her idea for Ohio Reclaimed, I immediately said yes, but I didn't know what about Ohio could still surprise me. I expected to do a lot of research, learn a lot of history about these sites, but I wasn't sure that I would be able to connect on a more creative level with the subject matter.

While discussing how to approach the project, we started planning trips to visit the sites that would be the focus of the project. Seeing something in person gives details that I wouldn't be able to scoop up from doing some research or looking at old photos, and again, I expected to have to rely heavily on those details to make the poems good enough. I didn't think I'd find anything surprising.

Then we made our first site visits, and everything changed for me.

Yes, I met history. Yes, I met interesting facts.

But almost immediately, I met something surprising: hope.

And that was something I could wrap a poem around. Not just one, but a dozen of them.

Those of us who live in Ohio know that we're blessed with our county, state, and national parks. Our parks are something I know I've taken for granted, but we have so many wonderful wild or semi-wild spaces. But despite spending a decent amount of time in and around them for my entire life (see: Ohio has always been my home), I never looked at them from this angle before--an angle from which I saw hope.

A number of the places we visited had been some kind of industrial operation, places that, within living memory, had been devoid of trees or any other green growth, but now sat in the middle of a reforested, thriving area. Without, and sometimes with, the help of people, the earth can recover, life can recover. The work of Ohio Reclaimed is this beautiful illustration of the way that damage, mistakes, harm that we inflict, whether intentionally or not, can be healed, can be recovered.

It renewed my sense of wonder in a place I thought I knew so well. It made me fall in love with Ohio. The voice in most of the poems from Ohio Reclaimed is named as Nature, but the more I think about it, I wonder if maybe it isn't Ohio herself, speaking through these poems, talking to us, showing us our faults, correcting, fixing, healing.

I'm going to be honest: these last few weeks have not been an easy time to live in Ohio. I've felt so much disappointment, disillusionment, and hurt over certain outcomes. In the aftermath, I've seen some people saying very seriously that they're going to leave the state, move somewhere they feel safer, encouraging others not to come here, not to visit, not to vacation or spend money here.

I won't be leaving. This is my home, and always has been, and it feels that way just as much now as it has ever been. Regardless of what the numbers look like on paper, there is so much about Ohio to be loved. Despite things that go wrong, despite the people in the statehouse making decisions I wish they wouldn't make, Ohio is still my home. And I love it. This place with so many of the people I love, this place that has so much promise, this place that deliberately, stubbornly heals itself over and over. This place that rather than destroy us, is willing to give us another chance to do the right thing. Another chance, and another chance, and another chance. She's the parent who won't give up on us.

I'm not saying there's no work involved. We don't get to sit back and let Ohio just fix everything on her own. It took concerted effort to reforest these areas, to learn what once was and put it back to rights in a thoughtful and true way. But it can be done. All is not lost. It never is. There is hope. And it starts with love.

Peace.
T


 "Ohio Reclaimed: What Once Was" is still on view at Summit Artspace (140 E Market St, Akron, OH) through December 14th! See the art, read and listen to the poems. Chapbooks of the poems in the show are EXCLUSIVELY available for purchase only at Summit Artspace through the run of the show. Pick up your copy while you're there.

Five things you can do besides wear a bracelet

If wearing a blue bracelet makes you feel better right now, ok, I guess. But the truth is that the Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ folks in your life already knew whether or not you were a safe person. The bracelet is really just for you.

But if you actually ARE in the place where you are ready to do something, here's a list of low-commitment actions you can take. Personally, I'm not there yet. I know I move slowly and need to get myself in a good place from which I can start doing the work. If you needed ideas, but, like me, need some time, bookmark this and come back to it when you're ready.

1. Support good and local (when possible) journalism.

As confidence in our institutions erodes, journalism that is actual journalism--not entertainment disguised as news, not propaganda--is becoming an endangered species.

If you have a hometown paper you trust and like, subscribe. If not, look into publicly funded news organizations. Look into your local PBS and NPR stations. For Northeast Ohio, Signal Akron and Signal Cleveland have also been doing really good work in online print journalism.

If you're not able to support these organizations at this time with donations or by becoming a member, then start using them as your news sources.

Links:

Ideastream Public Media (NEO PBS and NPR)

Signal Cleveland 

Signal Akron 

 

2. Donate to local organizations that support people who will be targeted over the next 4 years.

If you have disposable income right now and your goal is supporting Black people, brown people, LGBTQ+ people, and immigrants, there are organizations near you doing this already. Set up a donation with them--make it monthly so it will continue even after this initial rage wears off and we fade into waves of complacence and frustration and you won't need to remember to do it.

A few links to orgs in my area:

International Institute of Akron --helps refugees and immigrants achieve an empowered life with dignity, connection, and belonging.

ASIA (Asian Services in Action)--the largest health and human services agency serving the AAPI community of Northeast Ohio.

Freedom Bloc --On a mission to build black leadership and political infrastructure in Black communities through civic education and engagement, leadership development and economic reinvestment.

Plexus --Plexus LGBT + Allied Chamber of Commerce

Big Love Network --Big Love is Akron’s local environmental health equity organization.  We are an evolving network facilitating neighbor-led/creative placemaking, sustainability, and health equity efforts throughout Akron as a means for social change.

 

3. Support your local arts, artists, and small local businesses.

The arts build healthy communities, and believe it or not, healthy economies! It's a crucial part of your local social and yes, financial, infrastructure. If you can't support a local org with money right now, support them by patronizing them with your presence--many have free or very low cost admission. I'm listing local organizations here, but I promise, wherever you are, there is a small gallery, venue, or museum you can support. Buy holiday gifts from local artists, shop Small Business Saturday events and art and craft fairs. Even if you don't buy anything, collect business cards from your favorites so you remember to default to them when buying gifts rather than shopping through big tech websites.

Links to some Akron-local orgs you can support with your funds and/or presence:

Summit Artspace --quickly becoming my favorite source and resource for the arts in Akron. They support not only artists, but the community. 

The Nightlight --An exceptional arthouse cinema experience—for everyone.

Akron Soul Train --Akron Soul Train is an artist residency program connecting and empowering the community and artists by granting residencies that provide resources for all creative disciplines to foster a more vibrant downtown Akron.

CATAC --seeks to provide a home base to nurture emerging local artists and those of international reputation creating new work and experimenting with new forms of expression.

Akron Bazaar and Cleveland Bazaar --northeast Ohio’s longest-running indie craft show, with over eighteen years of fantastic events on our track record since 2004.

The Rialto Theatre --Akron’s premier live music venue

There are literally dozens more just in Akron and the surrounding areas...

4. Donate or volunteer at your local foodbank.

Foodbanks are overwhelmingly cited as the organizations that make donations go further than humanly possible. Ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but these are the only organizations that can find a way to turn $1 into three free meals for those in need. And regardless of whether the economy is up or down, regardless of your neighborhood, food insecurity is real, and I promise you, worse than you could imagine. My day-job hosts food bank pickups once a month, and folks are lined up in their cars for a mile, waiting for literally hours to get a couple bags of groceries. These orgs will always need volunteers and money. Always.

Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank

Greater Cleveland Foodbank 

 

5. Support your local public library.

Wherever you are, your library will accept donations. But more importantly, you support them by your presence. Every year they report their attendance numbers statewide and nationally to show that they are a critical resource in the community.

And they are.

When free and open access to information is eroded, everyone suffers. But your local library isn't only about books and movies and music. It absolutely is, but it's infinitely more.

As access to public resources continues to erode, the responsibility for filling the gaps left by failing and dismantled social safety nets is filled, intentionally or not, by the libraries.

Just some of the things that you may not immediately associate with what libraries do:

• Maker spaces, with 3D printers, laser cutters, Cricut machines, embroidery and quilting machines, CNC cutters, free access to Adobe suite software, vinyl printers, and so much more that I'm not even remotely tech savvy enough to understand but maybe you are
• Free meals for kids, and food pantry pick ups
• Assistance with applying for various social services
• Free computer and internet access
• Free Microsoft Certification classes
• Free career assistance
  

And--your libraries are under attack right now, and over the coming years it is only expected to get worse.

As book and material challenges and bans become more frequent and libraries are placed in the crosshairs for doing nothing more than providing information to anyone who wants it, they need your support. Here in Ohio, the statehouse attempted but failed (so far) at defunding public libraries that provide materials they want to censor. You can read about it here.

So what can you do? Show up. Vote for every library levy on your ballot as they show up in the coming years. If you haven't visited your library in a minute, step through those doors. Get a card. Ask for a list of programs and register and attend an author talk, writing workshop, a cooking class, a storytime with your kids, a program to learn how to use all those fancy maker machines I listed above. Make the library a weekly visit.

Beyond that, libraries need you to call your Ohio state representatives and Ohio senators. Make it a weekly call--schedule five minutes a week and put a reminder in your phone. In Ohio, we are blessed with something called the Public Library Fund, which uses a percentage of statewide tax revenue to fund public libraries across Ohio. It's one of the reasons the libraries in Ohio surpass some of those in even the biggest cities in the nation. Yes, those.

So here's a quick script to use when you call if you need help:

"Hi, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent at [your address]. I'm calling because I want to support my public libraries across Ohio, and I am asking you to keep the PLF at current levels of funding. I am also asking you to support the freedom of information by preventing any efforts to tie those library funds to the materials our libraries offer." (You can add a thank you at the end if you want. Depending on whether or not you like your rep, maybe you don't want.)

That's it. You'll probably reach voicemail without even talking to a real person.

Here's how to find your Ohio reps:

Ohio House of Representatives

Ohio Senate

---

This list is NOT even close to all-inclusive. And this list is largely hyper local. So if you know of other orgs, share them with your friends who are asking, "What do we do now?" There is always something to do. No one person needs to do it all. But everyone can do one thing. When we're ready.

Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.

I believe that we were meant to be in this time and were given the gifts to do what is needed in the world right now.

Life. Love. Light.
T