Poetry Café
The Poetry Café features poetry and music by guest poets and musicians. Along with poetry and song writing contest winners, there are open mic readings, and live performances!
Writing Contests
UC Blue Ash College has hosted poetry and songwriting contests for more than a decade to help increase interest in poetry and songwriting among college students.
Winners can earn prizes and a chance to perform at the Poetry Café!
Submissions are closed for the 2022-2023 school year, please check back in the fall for another opportunity!
UC Blue Ash College Poetry Contest
This annual poetry contest is open to UC Blue Ash College students.
Winners will be announced and invited to read for our Poetry Café being held on Wednesday March 29. Winning poems published in the Blue Ash Review print and online editions.
High School Poetry Contest
This annual poetry contest is open to area high school students.
Winners will be announced and invited to read for our Poetry Café being held on Wednesday March 29. Winning poems published in the Blue Ash Review print and online editions.
Songwriting Contest
This contest is open to all UC Blue Ash College students and area high school students.
Winners will be announced and invited to perform for our Poetry Café on Wednesday March 29. Winning songs will be published in the Blue Ash Review print and online editions.
March 2023 Guest Poet
Roberta Schultz, MA, BA in English and Rank I in Education, is a singer songwriter and poet from Wilder, KY. She performs regionally with critically acclaimed Raison D’Etre, a women’s harmony trio specializing in swing harmonies, cowboy anthems, and American music. Raison D’Etre has 9 recordings and one concert DVD to their credit. The group is featured in Kentucky’s Performing Arts Roster.
As a solo performer, Roberta is included on arts rosters in both Kentucky and Ohio. She is a Trained HealthRhythms Facilitator with over a decade’s experience leading wellness drum circles for seniors, veterans, recovery treatment centers, and schools.
Like an original “bard,” Roberta Schultz is both singer songwriter and poet. Her work has appeared in Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Still: the Journal, Kakalak, I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Singand other anthologies. Four of her songs have been selected for Women Speak, Vol 7 & 8. She tours with the Women of Appalachia Program to present the Women Speak anthologies in Ohio and Kentucky. Three of her chapbooks, Outposts on the Border of Longing, Songs from the Shaper’s Harp, and Touchstones are published by Finishing Line Press. Her fourth chapbook, Asking Price is forthcoming from Workhorse Writers Collaborative.
Underscore, her first full-length poetry collection was published in May 2022 by Dos Madres Press.
Contact Information
English & Communication Department
Email: rhonda.pettit@uc.edu