Ohio

State Poet Laureate

In 2014, Ohio established a state poet laureate position, which is currently held by Kari Gunter-Seymour was appointed the poet laureate of Ohio. Gunter-Seymour is the author of A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions), which was the winner of the 2020 Ohio Poet of the Year Award and long-listed for the 2020 Julie Suk Award.

City and County Poets Laureate

Cuyahoga County

Honey Bell-Bey was appointed the poet laureate of Cuyahoga County in January 2020, the first poet in sixteen years to hold the position.

Cincinnati

In 2018, Manuel Iris was named poet laureate of Cincinnati, Ohio. Iris will serve a two-year term.

Cleveland Heights

In 2018, Damien McClendon was named poet laureate of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. McClendon will serve a two-year term.

Type	Title	State
Radio Program	Book Beat	Ohio
Writing Program	Denison University	Ohio
Landmark	James Wright’s Hometown of Martins Ferry, OH	Ohio
Literary Organization	Ohio Poetry Association	Ohio
Writing Program	Kent State University	Ohio
Literary Organization	Brunswick Art Works	Ohio
Writing Program	Kenyon College	Ohio
Literary Magazine	Artful Dodge	Ohio
Writing Program	Miami University	Ohio
Small Press	Bottom Dog Press	Ohio

That we rode harder into the wind,
That the story got told,
That the broken candies were eaten first,
That they were eaten last,
That all subjects grew extinct eventually,
That in the inn I ruined our lives,
That in the barn I tried to save them,
That I failed,
That per Fitzgerald the manner remains intact for some time after
the morale cracks,
That in the interregna all suffer equally,
That the languages we are born ready to speak leave us one by one,
That unless we’re actively procreating we’re acting metaphorically,

Sarah Manguso

2006

I am shown
a generosity

so muddied
at the muddy bottom

of a question I forget to ask
until it's fished out

but bloated but 
in the manner of a net 

a web of causal connections
attached to its corners

gently moving over
the surface of the water

how come the road
couldn't have stayed followed

by way of hollowed out
logs & paddles

made of pawpaw wood
rather than by the crows 

alone to the moment
when the Monongahela

the Allegheny
the Ohio meet

I hate the underside
of an idea

but I like the underside
of grass that grows

underwater
and I've seen it from there

blossom 
as if

Sasha Steensen

2010

on my birthday

I want a future
making hammocks
out of figs and accidents.
Or a future quieter
than snow. The leopards
stake out the backyard
and will flee at noon.
My terror is not secret,
but necessary,
as the wild must be,
as Sandhill cranes must
thread the meadow
yet again. Thus, autumn
cautions the cold
and the wild never want
to be wild. So what
to do about the thrum

Jennifer Chang

2013

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Ohio

Recent & Featured Listings

Brian P. Cleary

Carrie George

David Young

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