Category: Poetry

Ruth Awad

BORN: 1987 OHIO CONNECTION: Resident Columbus In 1976, Ruth Awad’s father fled Abou Samra, Tripoli, Lebanon, to seek asylum in England during the Lebanese Civil War. After immigrating to the United States in the 1980s, he attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale where he met Awad’s mother. Awad’s mother, a nurse, painted as a hobby. …

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Kazim Ali

BORN: 1971 OHIO CONNECTION: Resident Oberlin Born in London on April 5, 1971, to Muslim immigrants of Indian, Iranian, and Egyptian descent (political refugees from India), Kazim Ali became fascinated with poetry from his father’s eloquent readings from the Qur’an. After a residency in Jenpeg, Manitoba, between 1975 and 1979, Ali’s family relocated to Buffalo, New …

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Nin Andrews

Born: 1958 Ohio connection: Resident Poland Nin Andrews grew up on a farm in Charlottesville, Virginia. She received her B.A. in 1980 from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and her MFA in 1995 from Vermont College. In 1982, she married Jim Andrews. Nin Andrews’ work has appeared in many literary journals and anthologies. She is …

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Jaime Adoff

Born: 1951 Ohio connection: Resident Yellow Springs Author, poet, musician, and educator Jaime Adoff was born in New York City, NY. Adoff, son of acclaimed authors Virginia Hamilton and Arnold Adoff, was raised in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Jaime Adoff received a Bachelor of Music degree in 1990 from Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio, where his focus was …

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Dove, Rita

Born: 1952 Ohio connection: Birth Akron The first African American and the youngest individual to be awarded the post of United States Poet Laureate (1993-95), Rita Dove desires to make poetry more appealing to the general reader. Dove was born in Akron, Ohio, into a highly-educated family whose house was full of books. An avid reader …

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Nikki Giovanni

Born: 1943 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati Yolanda Cornelia Giovanni, Jr. was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and called “Nikki” by her younger sister early on. The family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, when she was young, but Giovanni remained close to her outspoken grandmother, making frequent trips to Knoxville and spending some of her high school years …

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