Welcome to POETRY +, a monthly reading series hosted by Art on Madison for emerging and established writers in Cleveland and the surrounding regions. Each month, POETRY + aims to shine the spotlight on two great writers (ideally one from out of town and one local), providing them with the platform and time necessary to present a body of their work and to connect with their audience. Each presenter is given the freedom to decide which materials and anecdotes they will share. POETRY + is open to all forms of poetry, short and flash fiction, and performative happenings. POETRY + typically occurs on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, and is currently curated by 2019-2021 Ohio Beat Poet Laureate John Burroughs.
Doors open at 7:00 pm, and the reading begins at 7:30 pm. POETRY + is free and open to the public.
Doors open at 7:00 pm, and the reading begins at 7:30 pm. POETRY + is free and open to the public.
January 21, 2020: Featured Poets - Chuck Salmons and S. Renay Sanders
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Chuck Salmons is a poet and currently President of the Ohio Poetry Association. He earned a B.A. from Otterbein College and a M.A. from Northern Michigan University.
Chuck's poems have appeared in several journals and anthologies, including Pudding Magazine, Evening Street Review, Olentangy Review, Common Threads, The Fib Review, Red Thread Gold Thread, Everything Stops and Listens, and Appleseeds. His chapbook, Stargazer Suite, was released in December 2016 and is available from 11th Hour Press. His second chapbook, Patch Job, was published by NightBallet Press in 2017.
He won the 2011 William Redding Memorial Poetry Contest, sponsored by The Poetry Forum of Columbus, and has garnered awards from Ohio Poetry Day. Most recently, he is a recipient of a 2018 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for his poetry. Chuck regularly gives readings throughout Ohio, both solo and as part of the poetry trio Concrete Wink. He also leads workshops for various groups and audiences.
Chuck has worked in a variety of fields, including construction, education, and retail. He loves science, which often influences his poems, and is thrilled about the discovery of water on Mars and gravitational waves. He works as a science editor in Columbus.
S. Renay Sanders learned to love the spoken word amidst a family of storytellers. She began secretly writing her own stories as poems. She came out of the poetry closet in 2010 with a poem in the Hessler Street Poetry Anthology. She subsequently had poems published in a variety of anthologies. Her most recent accomplishment is the publication of her first chapbook, Dancing in Place. Coming full circle, she has ventured into storytelling and will proudly perform her story "Cemetery Run" in the Women of Appalachia Project, Spoken Word, 2019. Today she proudly lives the poetic lifestyle. Continuing to enjoy the local poetry scene as an open micer and occasional feature. A native Clevelander, her poems are inspired by the characters she encounters in life and the beauty of the Cuyahoga Valley, where she now resides.
Chuck's poems have appeared in several journals and anthologies, including Pudding Magazine, Evening Street Review, Olentangy Review, Common Threads, The Fib Review, Red Thread Gold Thread, Everything Stops and Listens, and Appleseeds. His chapbook, Stargazer Suite, was released in December 2016 and is available from 11th Hour Press. His second chapbook, Patch Job, was published by NightBallet Press in 2017.
He won the 2011 William Redding Memorial Poetry Contest, sponsored by The Poetry Forum of Columbus, and has garnered awards from Ohio Poetry Day. Most recently, he is a recipient of a 2018 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for his poetry. Chuck regularly gives readings throughout Ohio, both solo and as part of the poetry trio Concrete Wink. He also leads workshops for various groups and audiences.
Chuck has worked in a variety of fields, including construction, education, and retail. He loves science, which often influences his poems, and is thrilled about the discovery of water on Mars and gravitational waves. He works as a science editor in Columbus.
S. Renay Sanders learned to love the spoken word amidst a family of storytellers. She began secretly writing her own stories as poems. She came out of the poetry closet in 2010 with a poem in the Hessler Street Poetry Anthology. She subsequently had poems published in a variety of anthologies. Her most recent accomplishment is the publication of her first chapbook, Dancing in Place. Coming full circle, she has ventured into storytelling and will proudly perform her story "Cemetery Run" in the Women of Appalachia Project, Spoken Word, 2019. Today she proudly lives the poetic lifestyle. Continuing to enjoy the local poetry scene as an open micer and occasional feature. A native Clevelander, her poems are inspired by the characters she encounters in life and the beauty of the Cuyahoga Valley, where she now resides.
