Rodman Library Hosts an Afternoon of Poetry Reading

Join us for a relaxed afternoon of poetry reading on Saturday, April 7, from 2 to 4 p.m., in Rodman Main Auditorium. Poets from Ohio and Pennsylvania will read from their published works and at the conclusion of all reading will invite attendees to ask questions. The poets participating in this event include Jason Baldinger, Bonné de Blas, Theresa Göttl Brightman, Pat Snyder Hurley, and Sony Q. Ton-Aime. Jason Baldinger is a poet hailing from Pittsburgh. He is the author of several books the most recent being the chaplet, Fumbles Revelations (Grackle and Crow), that is available now. The collection Fragments of a Rainy Season(Six Gallery Press) is coming this winter. Recent publications include the Low Ghost Anthology, Uppagus, Unconditional Surrender, Lilliput Review, Rusty Truck, In Between Hangovers, Your One Phone Call, Winedrunk Sidewalk, Ramingo’s Porch, Blue Mountain Review, and Heartland! Poetry of Love, Solidarity, and Resistance. You can hear Jason read some poems at jasonbaldinger.bandcamp.com. Bonné de Blas, poet and book artist, is working toward her MFA in poetry at Kent State University in collaboration with the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Program (NEOMFA) where she teaches writing composition and creative writing. She has an MA in English plus a JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. She is the author of two chapbooks, The Act of Dwelling (NightBallet Press) and The Rule of Contraction (Kattywompus Press). Her poems and essays appear in anthologies that include What I Knew Before I Knew (Pudding House Press) and Older Queer Voices: The Intimacy of Survival, Lambert and Einstein, eds. (olderqueervoices.com) for which she was nominated for Best of the Net 2017. Her artists’ books are in the Special Collections of the Cleveland Public Library, galleries in France, Mexico, and New Zealand, and private collections worldwide. Theresa Göttl Brightman won first place the first time she competed in a poetry slam, and has since gone on to compete in several local and regional slams, as well as at National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2012. Her poems have appeared in many online and print publications, two chapbooks, and one full-length collection, as well as on WAPS Akron’s 91.3 The Summit and 89.7 WOSU Columbus. She has received writing awards from the University of Akron, Cleveland Museum of Art, and the City of Ventura, CA. Brightman has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, the Rhysling Award, and the Best of the Net awards. She lives in Akron, with her writer husband and the green bird who owns them both. Pat Snyder Hurley, a Columbus, Ohio, poet, collaborated with her late husband Bill Hurley to create Hard to Swallow (Nightballet Press), a collection of poems addressing their individual perspectives–caregiver and patient– on Bill’s battle with esophageal cancer. Pat, also a Columbus humor columnist, has had poems published or accepted for publications in journals including Pudding Magazine, Poydras Review, and Snapdragon. She has also been published in the Ohio Poetry Association’s ekphrastic poetry collection, A Rustling and Waking Within. More of Bill’s work appears in his book, No Weeds In Wahkeena, and OPA’s journal Common Threads. Sony Q. Ton-Aime is the current fellow at the Wick Poetry Center. He is a second year MFA Poetry candidate in the NEOMFA program. Kent State University is his gateway. His poems have been published in magazines such as Brainchild, Luna Negra, and La Revista PingPong. When he is not writing or teaching in the community, he is videotaping his landlord, Ted Lyons, for his upcoming documentary Ted Talks. He enjoys photography and Haitian food. No registration is needed. This event is supported by the Friends of Rodman Library and is free and open to the public ages 13 through adult. Refreshments will be available. For more information, call the Main Library at 330-821-2665, ext. 216.