Using our 2025 adult Great Reads from Great Places selection as a jumping off point, this article provides a brief introduction to exploring Ohio’s National Park and our state’s rich and varied poetic landscape.
Exploring Cuyahoga Valley National Park: The Literal Landscape
Cuyahoga Valley National Park encompasses over 32,000 acres of fields, forest, lakes, rivers, ponds, and wetlands and is home to numerous species of plants, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds and insects. This great variety of wildlife is due in part to the varied habitats in the park situated here on the western edge of the Appalachian Mountains. The Ohio Center for the Book encourages everyone – both inside and outside of Ohio – to explore the diversity of our state’s National Park!
The best place to start planning your visit is the official site on the National Park Service website: Cuyahoga Valley National Park Ohio. You’ll find tips for visiting, trail maps, and more. There’s also a page dedicated to the park’s 50th Anniversary being celebrated all year in honor of the creation of the “Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area” on December 27, 1974 (Public Law 93-555). There’s even an app you can download!
Exploring Ohio’s Poetic Landscape
The varied terrain of Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park – sculpted over the ages – and the diversity of the wildlife that makes its home there provides a metaphor for the deep lineage and diversity of Ohio’s poetic landscape. We encourage you to explore that landscape as well! Below are possible starting points for your poetic adventure.
While there are many famous poets who have called Ohio home (including Paul Laurence Dunbar, Mary Oliver, former US Poet Laureate Rita Dove, to name only a few), The foundations of Ohio’s poetic landscape were laid far back in its history. We would have readers consider the songs of the native peoples as the earliest poetry recited in this land, for example, “Mahk Jchi.”
Early published poets include Charles A. Jones (1815-1851) of Cincinnati, who, “in 1835, gave promise of much activity and distinction in metrical literature” as The Poets And Poetry Of The West With Biographical And Critical Notices (1860) wrote of him, adding that he became “one of the least known of Western writers.” Thomas Buchanan Read (1822-1872) composed “Sheridan’s Ride” which was memorized by generations of students and even commemorated by a plaque (now lost) on the house in which it was written across from the Cincinnati library. Cincinnati Magazine published an article in 2023 for National Poetry Month on some forgotten early Ohio poets. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, whose poetry, first appearing in magazines and newspapers, was collected in an 1857 anthology, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, with an introduction by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. No copies of her first anthology are known to have survived. Harper was the first woman to serve as an instructor at Union Seminary, a school for free African Americans in Wilberforce, Ohio. Suffice it to say, poetry has a long lineage in our state.
Moving into more recent history, there have been three Ohio Poet Laureates since the position was created by Ohio law in 2016: Amit Majmudar (2016-2017), Dave Lucas (2018-2019), and Kari Gunter-Seymour (2020-present).
Our state also boasts a number of city- and county-designated Poet Laureates, past and present. Daniel Thompson was the first Poet Laureate of Cuyahoga County. Rep. Dennis Kucinich actually entered a speech in memoriam of Thompson into the Congressional Record on May 11, 2004. It took sixteen years after Thompson’s death for another Poet Laureate of Cuyahoga County to be named. Honey Bell-Bey was chosen as the Poet Laureate of Cuyahoga County in January 2020. Since 2005, Heights Arts in Cleveland Heights and University Heights has named 12 Poet Laureates with Michelle R. Smith being named most recently, beginning her two-year term in April 2025. Previous Heights Poet Laureates have included Meredith Holmes, Ray McNiece and Damien McClendon. The Cincinnati and Mercantile Library Poet Laureate program began in 2016. The current holder of that title is Dr. Yalie Saweda Kamara. Sierra Leone was named Dayton’s first Poet Laureate was named in 2025. Lucas County established a Poet Laureate in 2007 with the position being held by Joel Lipman (2008-2014) and Mr. Ferris (2014-2020). Jonie McIntire was named Lucas County Poet Laureate in 2022. There have also been Ohio Beat Poet Laureates: John Burroughs (2019-2021) and Sandra Feen (2022-2024). We encourage you to explore whether your city or county has a designated Poet Laureate.
There are also a number of organizations dedicated to the art of poetry. The Ohio Poetry Association was established in 1929 to “promote the art of poetry and support poets and others who appreciate poetry.” The organization has also named a Poet of the Year since 1976, selected by the Ohio Poetry Day Association. Recipients of the honor went on to be contributors to Light Enters the Grove, including Barbara Sabol (2024), Quartez Harris (2021), Kari Gunter-Seymour (2020), Laura Grace Weldon (2019), Jeff Gundy (2015), and David Hassler (2006). Founded in 1962, The Cleveland State University Poetry Center, was established to “promote poetry through readings and community outreach” and, in 1971, became a nonprofit independent press. Caryl Pagel serves as Director and Editor while Hilary Plum serves as Associate Director and Editor. Both Pagel and Plum contributed to Light Enters the Grove. The Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University was established in 1984 and continues to be a vital part of the poetic landscape, including hosting annual youth summer art camps within Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
The Ohio Center for the Book has also hosted a number of poetry readings and conversations, including Lindsay Turner and Noah Falck, Taylor Byas and Stephanie Ginese, Clarissa Jakobsons and Charles Malone.
We encourage readers to visit their local library, to explore the webpages linked above, and to enjoy the multifariousness of the landscape that Ohio has to offer, both literally and poetically. Enjoy your exploration! Ohio has a lot to offer.