Writings

Ohio and Ohio Valley writers and writing, literary and cultural history with occasional ventures into the greater Midwest and Upper South.

Congratulations to Vijay Seshadri!

By buckeyemuse | April 16, 2014

Congratulations to Vijay Seshadri, winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book 3 Sections: Poems. Seshadri was born in Bangalore, Indiana and came to the United States with his family when he was five years old. He grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where his father was a chemistry professor at Ohio State…

CONTINUE READING

National Poetry Month Events in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Dayton.

By buckeyemuse | April 14, 2014

Here is some information about some events for National Poetry Month in the state of Ohio. I will also seek out some information on events in other states covered by buckeyemuse. The main library of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has readings every week during April. There are usually one to several…

CONTINUE READING

Ambrose Bierce: What He Saw of Shiloh–April 6-7, 1862

By buckeyemuse | April 7, 2014

On this date in 1862, American writer Ambrose Bierce participated in the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. Bierce is one of a handful of noted authors from either side to have served in the American Civil War. Bierce and Connecticut novelist John William DeForest were probably the two distinguished writers on the Union side to…

CONTINUE READING

Lowell Thomas: Born in Darke County, Ohio, April 6, 1892

By buckeyemuse | April 6, 2014

Today is the birthday of Lowell Thomas, a writer, broadcaster, traveler, and publicist who became famous helping to boost the legendary T.E. Lawrence–“Lawrence of Arabia”– into the limelight. Thomas was born in the town of Woodington in Darke County, Ohio, the same county that sharpshooting legend Annie Oakley hailed from. When Thomas was eight the…

CONTINUE READING

An Evening With Rick Sowash

By buckeyemuse | April 3, 2014

  It’s been a long, cold winter here in southwestern Ohio, just like so much of the United States. I didn’t venture out much when I didn’t have to, but I certainly enjoyed one evening in late January. On January 23, storyteller, musician, author and filmmaker Rick Sowash visited the Wyoming Historical Society in Wyoming,…

CONTINUE READING

March 18, 1958: Merton’s Epiphany

By buckeyemuse | March 19, 2014

On this day in 1958, Thomas Merton had a spiritual epiphany at the corner of Fourth and Walnut in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. As he later wrote in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, “In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization…

CONTINUE READING

A nod to the ould sod: Irish-American writers of the Ohio Valley.

By buckeyemuse | March 17, 2014

It’s St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve always enjoyed this unusual holiday, not only because I’m Irish-American and have memories of the celebration through the years, but also because of its peculiar nature. I can’t think of any other American holiday when one particular ethnic branch of the American tree is so loudly celebrated. It’s a day…

CONTINUE READING

Virginia Hamilton: Out of the Heartland.

By buckeyemuse | March 15, 2014

“Everything I write comes out of Ohio.” –Virginia Hamilton in a talk to Fairborn, Ohio teachers on February 24, 1995. Virginia Hamilton (March 12, 1936–February 19, 2002). Children’s book author, folklorist, anthologist, biographer, born in Yellow Springs, Ohio on a family farm dating back to the 1850s. Many readers know her from her books The…

CONTINUE READING

Winter: Hail and Farewell

By buckeyemuse | March 13, 2014

“Farewell to winter’s frozen water-weeds. Farewell to dark hills and clouds that foul the sky; Farewell to snowbirds eating ragweed seeds And winds that blow dead leaves across the rye. And shake old sparrow nests among the eaves; Farewell to daisies under pasture stumps; Farewell warm rabbit blood upon dead leaves And greenbriar thickets where…

CONTINUE READING