'Berg hosting Ohio Poetry Day next month

Ohio Poetry Day 2016, in its 79th year, will be held on the campus Oct. 14-15 in Pfleiderer Hall. Poets from all over Ohio, the local community and two special guests are expected to participate.

Thanks in part to the Gekler Family English Fund, after sessions with the Heidelberg community, Eric McHenry, poet laureate of Kansas and associate professor of English at Washburn University, will lead the Friday evening workshop and present a reading of his work.

Saturday morning will be devoted to the Evan Lodge Memorial Workshop, an interactive workshop on 10 poems selected for the event through a pre-judged contest. Lunch will follow at the Hoernemann Refectory. Those not on the Ohio Poetry Day mailing list who wish to receive the reservation form may request one through a postcard request or SASE addressed to Amy Jo Zook, 3530 State Route 56, Mechanicsburg, OH 43044.  

The highlight of the weekend will be the reading Saturday afternoon of Ohio Poet of the Year Maggie Smith. A Columbus poet who resides in Bexley, Smith's winning volume is The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison (Tupelo Press, 2015).  She is the author of three chapbooks and the full-length collection, Lamp of the Body (Red Hen Press). Smith holds her bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan and her master's degree from The Ohio State University. She has served as lecturer at Gettysburg College and is now a freelance writer. Smith has received awards from The National Endowment for the Arts, Sustainable Arts, and was recognized with an Ohio Arts Council award for individual excellence.

After Smith's reading, authors of poems recognized in the 20 Ohio Poetry Day contests will be invited to read their work. Winners represent 135 entering poets from 25 states, the province of Ontario and Cornwall in the UK.  There were a total of 1,010 poems entered in 26 contests in 2016.

Requests for additional information may be addressed to Dr. Bill Reyer, OPD State Contest Chair, at wreyer@heidelberg.edu.