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Local and state poets laureate, along with contest winners, will share their poetry throughout the day.
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Readings by Ohio Poet Laureate Edward A. Julian Sr. and Lucas County Poet Laureate Sandra Rivers-Gill
Named Ohio Poet Laureate for 2026 and 2027 by the governor of the state of Ohio, Edward A. Julian Sr. of Columbus, Ohio is a published author, poet, motivational speaker, and creator of The Begin Within Initiative Life Skills Course. Though he served 14 years in federal prison as a young man, he then committed himself to becoming a force for positive change, earning an Associate of Arts degree from Cuyahoga Community College and studying social work at Cleveland State University. Through his work and his life, Edward exemplifies the power of beginning within.
Sandra Rivers-Gill, Lucas County’s newest Poet Laureate, is an award-winning poet, playwright and teaching artist. Her debut poetry chapbook, As We Cover Ourselves With Light (Shelia-Na-Gig Editions, 2023), was a finalist for the 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award, and was featured at the 2024 Ohioana Book Festival. She is currently serving as a Teaching Artist for the Ohio Arts Council and a Poet Ambassador to Ohio Poetry Association representing Northwest Ohio. Her work has appeared in numerous publications and her poetry has garnered nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Reading by Poet of the Year - Chuck Salmons
Chuck Salmons has served as part of the leadership of the Ohio Poetry Association for over a decade. His poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Chiron Review, Evening Street Review, The Ekphrastic Review, and Sheila-Na-Gig Online. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Paterson Poetry Prize, and received a 2018 Ohio Arts Council
Individual Excellence Award for poetry. He has published four poetry collections: Stargazer Suite; Patch Job; The Grace of Gazing Inward: Poems in Response to the Art of Alice Carpenter; and, Surviving the Eremocene, which was released by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions in autumn 2025.
chucksalmons.com
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Reading by contest winners
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Readings by prior Lucas County Poets Laureate - Jonie McIntire, Jim Ferris and Joel Lipman
Jonie McIntire, former Poet Laureate of Lucas County, Ohio (2022-2026), has authored Semidomesticated, (rereleased through Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2022) which won Red Flag Poetry’s 2020 chapbook contest; Beyond the Sidewalk, (Nightballet Press, 2017); and Not All Who Are Lost Wander, (Finishing Line Press, 2016). She hosts a monthly reading series called Uncloistered Poetry from Toledo, Ohio.
Jim Ferris is author of Slouching Towards Guantanamo, Facts of Life, and The Hospital Poems. Past president of the Society for Disability Studies and the Disabled & D/deaf Writers Caucus, he has received awards for performance and mathematics as well as poetry and creative nonfiction. Ferris was Poet Laureate of Lucas County, Ohio from 2014-2020. He earned a doctorate in performance studies and was the Ability Center Endowed Chair in Disability Studies at the University of Toledo.
Joel Lipman was the inaugural Poet Laureate of Lucas County, appointed in 2008 and serving until 2014. Lipman holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the State University of New York-Buffalo. He taught poetry, creative writing and book arts at the University of Toledo from 1975-2012. He is a five-time recipient of Oho Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowships, and in 2022 was named Axon Creative Fellow by the University of Toledo’s Department of Art.
Sensory Considerations: The Exhibitor Hall will take place in our atrium that contains a mix of natural and artificial light. Expect volume level to be commensurate with crowd size, which may vary.
Accessibility Details: Located on the first floor, accessed by elevator and/or stairs. Tile or low pile carpet throughout the building. Limited free parking is available in the attached garage. A limited number of mobility assistance scooters will be available for use.
Please call Public Services at 419-259-5293 to request an accommodation at least two weeks prior to the program date.
