Geauga Parks’ Nature Writing Honors & Performances

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon in Geauga County at the 25th annual Nature Arts Festival of the Geauga Park District, where I was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Adult Poetry category for “Among The Roots!” Please enjoy my performance and the flattering comments of contest judge Grace Butcher in the video below!

I also feel compelled to recognize Martha Kennedy, age 10, for her prize-winning haiku in the Child Poetry category of the contest. Martha’s vivid sensory descriptions and emotive undertones are stunningly brilliant, and I genuinely hope to hear much more from this poetic prodigy as her creative writing career continues to unfold! Please click here to read her piece!

Here’s the video described above:

Calamitous Haiku (+ Hessler Contest Video!)

The following haiku looks at a another sociopolitical political issue, violence, using a scientific metaphor:

I hope you found that worthy of contemplation. Now, in contrast, please enjoy this video clip of my comedic performance of “Error” (formerly “Cyberspace Senryū“) in this year’s Hessler Street Fair poetry competition:

It’s Hessler Season Once Again!

…and for the 4th consecutive year [Edit: My firsthand memory and my physical records are in conflict regarding this statistic. Please contact me if you can definitively confirm or disprove it. Thanks!], one of my submitted pieces has been accepted, both for publication in this year’s edition of the Hessler Street Fair’s annual poetry anthology and for the coinciding competition at Mac’s Back’s on Coventry [NEW LOCATION: Ensemble Theatre] on Wednesday, May 13th at 7:00 PM! As in years past, in addition to cash prizes, the top finishers in that competition will be given the honor of reading their winning poems at the Hessler Street Fair on Sunday, May 17th at 2:00 PM! Wish me luck!

The other event of the Hessler Street Fair which I’m specifically looking forward to is the “Hessler Poetry Jam,” which is scheduled for 2:00 to 5:00 PM on Saturday, May 16th at the Barking Spider Tavern, hosted by the awesome & talented Ray McNiece! I’m planning to recite several of my newest poems, some of which I’ll be debuting for the first time in front of a public audience! This will be my second time participating in this open mic event; my performance at the event last year can be seen in the video recording below.

I hope to see you at one or more (or all!) of the aforementioned events at the Hessler Street Fair! Viva poetry!

“The ‘PPP'”

If you’ve visited here recently, you may have noticed that I’ve created a new page (pages, not to be confused with posts, are listed in the top navigation of this blog) to welcome visitors who arrive via something called the “Poetic Plague Project”. What is the “PPP”, you may ask? Well, it is best explained by its developer, B.M. Stroud, on this page of his website (click here). [Did that help you to understand the workings of the “PPP”? If not, feel free to ask me questions for clarification via a comment on this post and I will get back to you in a timely fashion.] Anyway, the poems which I submitted to the “PPP” to be published as “germs” are two of my personal favorites: “Woodland Retribution” and “Always Remember Me“. As of 4/20/14, I’ve dispensed 3 “germs”, each containing one of the 2 aforementioned poems, and made plans for the placement of an additional 3 “germs”.

Alright; I believe I’ve said enough for one evening. Be 0n the lookout for a new poem sometime this week!

IMPORTANT!! PLEASE READ!!

IMPORTANT: Please DO NOT order copies of my book from Amazon.com! I DO NOT RECEIVE ANY ROYALTIES FOR AMAZON.COM SALES OF MY BOOK! If you appreciate my work enough to buy it, PLEASE BUY ONLY FROM THE PUBLISHER’S WEBSITE HERE: http://store.writingknights.com/2013/0051-3051.html

THANK YOU!

THIS SATURDAY, 9/7/2013: CHAPBOOK RELEASE!

THIS SATURDAY, 9/7/2013: Come to buy your copy of my NEW CHAPBOOK, and stay for the reading & open mic! All are welcome!, so CLICK HERE to RSVP and get all of the details: https://www.facebook.com/events/522238131139442/

In case you haven’t seen it on my Facebook profile, here’s a preview of the front and back covers, which feature an original photograph by me and an excerpt from one of the poems in the book:

“Smorgasbord” Book Release – GREAT NEWS!

Howdy! I have wonderful news to share with you regarding the upcoming release of “Smorgasbord”: Instead of printing “Smorgasbord” as a chapbook, Writing Knights Press will be printing it as a perfect bound book! The release date is still Saturday, September 7, 2013, at this event (click on this link to RSVP!). I hope to see many friends, relatives, and fellow poets in attendance that night in support of myself and the other poets being featured! I suppose I should mention that releasing “Smorgasbord” as a perfect bound book raises the price slightly, but I sincerely hope you will find that the increased quality of the book is worth the cost!

Well, I think that covers everything new regarding “Smorgasbord”! Thanks for reading! I’ll be posting a new poem on this blog tomorrow!

“Smorgasbord” – Chapbook Release Announcement!

Early this morning, I received permission from Writing Knights Press to make the following announcement:

My chapbook, entitled Smorgasbord, will be released at the Writing Knights Press event on September 7th, at 7:00pm, at the Literary Cafe in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland!! (Click Here For Directions!) In addition, I will be the headliner at that event! I plan on reading some poems from Smorgasbord, as well as some which were written since the acceptance of Smorgasbord for publication.

If you are on Facebook, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

This event is very important to me, so PLEASE mark your calendars and plan on attending if at all possible!

Once again, this event will take place on September 7th, at 7:00pm, at the Literary Cafe in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland! (Click Here For Directions!)

Thank You!

Grand Tournament Finalist! AND (soon to be) PUBLISHED AGAIN!

That’s right: I am a finalist in Writing Knights Press’s Grand Tournament! What does that mean? I’M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED AGAIN!! More specifically, if I win first place in the performance round (a scenario for which I am not getting up my hopes), I will win a full book deal; otherwise, I will be offered a chapbook publication deal. I am SO excited about this! It really is a dream-come-true! I’m so thrilled, in fact, that it hasn’t even fully sunk in yet! If you happen to be anywhere near Lakewood, Ohio, on July 28, please come and listen to all the finalists’ performances! The one thing that would make this even more of an honor would be if I had some friends there to support me as I take the stage!

Stay tuned for results of the Grand Tournament, as well as a NEW POEM that I began composing late last night!