Sponsored by the Ohio Library Council

Registration: FREE* for OLC Members Only.
*Individual members, trustees or administrators of OLC Institutional member libraries.

Register Now!

NOTE: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to join the webinar.

Ohio’s Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour

Webinar Overview:
OLC is honored to host a webinar with Ohio’s Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour. She will talk about the power of poetry and the way in which it heals, inspires, and creates pathways toward a more just and connected world.

As part of this partnership, every Ohio public library system will receive at least one free copy of her anthology I Thought I Heard A Cardinal Sing. The anthology features poets and poems that celebrate Ohio’s Appalachian heritage, giving voice to those who live there currently and those who did.

Inside the anthology is a lavish mix of voices—

• Affrilachian, Indigenous and LGBTQ
• Teens to those creatively aging
• Poets in recovery, some with disabilities or developmental differences
• Emerging and well established writers
• Poets living in the state and others from assorted locations throughout the country—all with a deep connection to Appalachian Ohio.

During this webinar, Gunter-Seymour will describe her work on this unique project and its impact on the national image of Ohio’s Appalachian population. You’ll also have an opportunity to ask her questions.

Presenters: Kari Gunter-Seymour, Poet Laureate of Ohio; and Michelle Francis, Executive Director, Ohio Library Council

If you are unable to participate in the live presentation, the webinar will be recorded and posted on the OLC website.

About Kari Gunter Seymour: Kari Gunter-Seymour is a ninth generation Appalachian and the Poet Laureate of Ohio. Her poetry collections include A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen (Sheila Na Gig Editions, 2020), which won the 2020 Ohio Poet of the Year Award, and the chapbook Serving (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2018). Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and publications including Rattle, ONE, The LA Times and The New York Times. Her work has also been featured on Verse Daily, World Literature Today and Poem-a-Day. She is the founder/executive director of the Women of Appalachia Project (WOAP) and editor of the WOAP anthology series, Women Speak. She is the founder, curator and host of Spoken & Heard, a seasonal performance series featuring poets, writers, and musicians from across the country; an artist in residence for the Wexner Center for the Arts and a 2021 Pillar of Prosperity Fellow, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio.