Literacy and Literary Organizations

Academy of American Poets. Academy of American Poets, founded in 1934, supports American poets at all stages of their careers and fosters the appreciation of contemporary poetry. Their website features more than 75 historic photos, letters from poets, and more.

Aldus Society. The Aldus Society, located in Columbus, is open to all individuals who appreciate the many facets of text and image through various media, but principally the book, past, present and future. Aldus provides educational and entertaining programming for its membership, be it the history of printing and publishing, book illustration, book design, book bindings, paper making, typography, calligraphy, book collecting, or libraries.

Artful Dodge. Artful Dodge is an Ohio-based literary magazine that publishes work with a strong sense of place and cultural landscape. The company is operated through the Department of English at the College of Wooster.

Books by the Banks. Books by the Banks is an annual Cincinnati Book festival which is free and open to the public.

Choose to Read Ohio. Choose to Read Ohio (CTRO) spotlights Ohio authors and promotes reading across Ohio. The State Library of Ohio, Ohioana Library Association and Ohio Center for the Book encourage Ohioans of all ages to read and enjoy books together.

Columbus Literacy Council. Serving adults in Central Ohio, the Columbus Literacy Council is a volunteer-based organization dedicated to increasing the level of functional literacy of adults reading below an 8th grade level through teaching the English language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

The Kenyon Review. The Kenyon Review, of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio was founded in 1939. In 2001, The Kenyon Review Board of Trustees voted to present an annual award that would honor careers of extraordinary literary achievement.The Kenyon Review is supported in part by The National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council.

Kids Read Now. Based in Troy, Ohio, Kids Read Now is a non-profit organization with national reach. Kids Read Now is dedicated to providing reading materials to school-age children during summer months to help eliminate the “summer slide.”

Lit Youngstown is a literary arts center in Youngstown that hosts a monthly reading series and open mic, workshops and classes for writers, a monthly book discussion, Fall Literary Festival, Winter Writing Camp, and many other projects and events.

Literary Cleveland. Literary Cleveland is a nonprofit organization that offers classes, workshops, programs and events. Its mission is to help writers develop their craft, create a strong network of writers, and connect writers to the community. Literary Cleveland aspires to become the hub, the connection point for the literary arts in the Northeast Ohio region.

Literacy Council of Clermont and Brown Counties. To enable adults to acquire basic listening, speaking, reading and writing skills needed to participate fully in society, and to increase awareness of literacy needs in our community. The Literacy Council has established itself as an important agency in the Clermont & Brown County communities.

Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati. The Literary Network of Greater Cincinnati is a nonprofit organization that serves as the contact center for literacy programs in the tri-state area. The Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati champions the development of literacy in the individual, the family, the workplace, the school, and the community by raising awareness, improving access, and serving as a catalyst for literacy efforts.

Mid-American Review. Mid-American Review (MAR) is an international literary journal dedicated to our mission of publishing the best contemporary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and translations. MAR is published at Bowling Green State University through the cooperation of the Creative Writing Program, the Department of English, and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Morgan Conservatory. The Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation is an Ohio non-profit art center dedicated to the preservation of handmade papermaking and the art of the book. Morgan Conservatory will pursue its educational and charitable purposes by serving the greater community locally, nationally, and internationally with sustainable practices in an innovative green environment.

Octavofest. Octavofest is a wide-ranging series of events which are dedicated to advancing the appreciation of the book and paper arts throughout NE Ohio. Events are held throughout the month of October at venues across the Greater Cleveland area. Events include lectures, demonstrations, tours, and exhibits.

Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council is committed to the economic, educational and cultural development of the state. The Council believes the arts should be shared by the people of Ohio. The arts arise from public, individual and organizational efforts. The OAC supports and encourages these efforts.

Ohio Literacy Association, state chapter of the International Literacy Association. Ohio Literacy Association chapter of the International Literacy Association supports and promotes literacy to help all Ohioans reach their full potential and develop a life-long love of reading.

Ohio Literacy Institute. An integral part of the Ohio Resource Center for Mathematics, Science, and Reading (ORC) has been funded by the Ohio General Assembly and established by the Ohio Board of Regents.

Ohio Reading Road Trip. The Ohio Reading Road Trip is a multimedia language arts curriculum for students in grades 6, 7, and 8. This integrated curriculum package is designed to spark students’ interest in reading by bringing some of Ohio’s best-known authors into the classroom through video, Internet, broadcast, and print resources.

Ohio Ready to Read. The State Library of Ohio and the Ohio Library Council created Ohio Ready to Read, an ongoing statewide initiative, to help address the early literacy needs of Ohio’s youngest citizens. Our mission is to share Every Child Ready to Read® @ Your Library® and other early literacy information with public library staff and trustees, parents and caregivers, child care providers, early childhood educators, children’s advocates and political decision makers. We encourage Ohio public libraries to provide early literacy services that are responsive to your communities.

Ohioana Book Festival. The Ohioana Book Festival is an annual book fair which is free and open to the public, no tickets or advance registration required. Festival activities will include panels, roundtables, author readings and discussions, a book fair, entertainment, and a special area for children’s programming. The fair includes more than one hundred nationally recognized authors – all of them Ohioans by birth or residence with books that have been published in the past year and representing every major literary field and genre.

Read for Literacy. Read for Literacy (RFL) was founded in 1986 through the merger of tutoring programs operated by the Junior League of Toledo and the Toledo Area Literacy Council. RFL has grown to become the nation’s largest and most cost effective all-volunteer literacy agency, with a network of 1,350 active volunteer tutors and readers.

Spring Literary Festival. Since 1986, The Spring Literary Festival has featured some of the world’s finest, most distinguished writers of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. The three-day festival is held in May on the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio. All readings and lectures are free and open to the public. The five visiting writers will be present throughout the festival, lecturing and reading from their work. Books by the authors will be available for purchase after each program.

Don Swaim Collection. Available through Ohio University, this online collection contains 888 records of digitized audio of interviews and radio broadcasts created by journalist Don Swaim. The interviews were conducted in the 1980s and 1990s with a variety of authors, editors, and other publishing industry professionals. These uncut, behind-the-scenes interviews were the foundation of Book Beat, Swaim’s nationally-syndicated daily book review broadcast for WCBS, which aired 1982-1993.