This event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested.

Kari Gunter-Seymour is Ohio’s third Poet Laureate and has held the position since 2020. The Ohio Poet Laureate is tasked with “[fostering] the art of poetry, [encouraging] literacy and learning, [addressing] central issues relating to the humanities and heritage, and [encouraging] the reading and writing of poetry across the state,” per the Ohio Arts Council. Above all, the Ohio Poet Laureate is meant to engage with and enrich the lives of Ohioans through sharing their poetry.

Gunter-Seymor hails from Albany in Athens County. Her work focuses on the complexities of contemporary Appalachian female culture. Her poetry publications include A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen, which won the 2020 Ohio Poet of the Year Award; Alone in the House of My Heart, which was a National Indie Book Awards finalist; and Dirt Songs, her most recent collection, which made the 2024 Person of the Year (POTY) Book Award longlist. 

Questions? Contact Terri Hessler, PhD, associate professor of special education, at 740.364.9544 or hessler.16@osu.edu.