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Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour Honored as Fellow by Academy of American Poets 


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Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour is among 23 state and city poets laureate selected as 2021 Poets Laureate Fellows by the Academy of American Poets.

Kari
Kari Gunter-Seymour poses for a portrait at the Dairy Barn Arts Center on March 6, 2018. (Submitted)

The fellowship honors “poets of literary merit appointed to serve in civic positions” and enables them “to undertake meaningful, impactful, and innovative projects that engage their fellow residents, including youth, with poetry, helping to address issues important to their communities,” according to the American Academy of Poets website.

Each fellow receives $50,000 to lead poetry projects in the communities that they serve.

In an Academy of American Poets media release announcing the 2021 fellows, Gunter-Seymour shared that she is planning to publish an anthology of poems that “aims to represent and educate about Ohio’s Appalachian population.” Gunter-Seymour’s planned anthology will be titled I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing: Ohio’s Appalachian Voices and focus specifically on the stories of teens and adults in Appalachian Ohio. It will be distributed for free to all Ohio public libraries and made available at a discounted price for schools and nonprofits.

The anthology will be published and distributed in collaboration with Sheila-Na-Gig Editions and the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio.