Latitudes hosts Dave Lucas, Ohio Poet Laureate!

Dave Lucas is a poet and essayist who was was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the current Poet Laureate of the state of Ohio.

Lucas’s first poetry collection, Weather, was published in 2011 by University of Georgia Press and was awarded the 2012 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. Shortly after publication, former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove named him as one of thirteen “young poets to watch.” His poetry has been anthologized in The Bedford Introduction to Literature and Best New Poets 2005; and has appeared in such journals as The American Poetry Review, Blackbird, The Paris Review, Poetry, Slate, The Threepenny Review and Virginia Quarterly Review. He has reviewed books for The Plain Dealer and his essays have appeared in Granta and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other publications.

Lucas has taught at Case Western Reserve University; the Cleveland Clinic Program in Medical Humanities, Lerner College of Medicine; the John Carroll Young Writers Workshop; and the Sweet Briar Creative Writing Conference.

In 2016, he served as the inaugural William N. Skirball Writers’ Center writer-in-residence at the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

In 2012, Lucas co-founded Brews and Prose, a monthly literary series hosted at Market Garden Brewery. He served as the program’s Creative Director from its inception through 2017.

If we have time, we’ll have a short Q&A with Dave, and of course, don’t forget to bring something to read during open mic!