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Jennifer Dotson works for both City Manager Ghida Neukirch and Mayor Nancy Rotering. As if that's not a busy enough job, Jennifer, who has lived in HP since 2002, started Highland Park Poetry in 2007. However, that still doesn't adequately describe all she does when she's not at work. She's a wife and mother, teacher, publisher, promoter, HP Neighbors contributor, and TV host. Since she appears on the cover of this month's edition of Highland Park Neighbors, we can call her a cover girl as well! Jennifer started Highland Park Poetry not to compete with the East on Central organization and their hard work but to dovetail it by bringing poets together and compliment the array of art within the community. Along with a website which posts poems from local poets, she also organizes a once a month open mic for poets to share their poems. Before the pandemic, these open mic nights would take place at Coffeespeaks, in Port Clinton and would also host a featured poet. She also arranges contests, promotes poetry to high school students in the area as well as publish poetry chapbooks that feature poets from across the country with a theme in her Muses' Gallery. Jennifer also conducts poetry and memoir classes through the HP Library U. She also puts together the April is Poetry Month displays in the library with the help of other HP Poets. During HP's 150th birthday, Jennifer put together a collections of poems (again by local poets) that told of historic events in town. Through an arts grant she was able to arrange a reading of these poems by ARTicuLIT Readers. In addition, Jennifer put together the HP 150 Commemorative book. In 2017 she started "Art Gets In Your Eyes" an ekphrastic art challenge. Displayed artwork on Central was offered to poets to write a poem that either describes or pays tribute to the piece of visual art. The poems were then printed on signs and placed next to the artwork. This year, the artwork expanded to all of the city's artwork, including Ravinia's sculpture collection. The Art Gets In Your Eyes 2020 collection will be on display for only a few more weeks, so get out and enjoy this imaginative collaboration! All poetry challenges are open to all. Although she isn't able to continue her monthly cable show "Poetry Today" during the pandemic, she's been able to apply that free time to promoting her second collection of poetry entitled "Late Night Talk Show Fantasy and Other Poems", published by Kelsay Books, which had a virtual launch online with a live 'house band" and the "Top Ten Questions You Shouldn't Ask a Poet" to get you into that late night talk show feeling. Jennifer shared a few of her poems, each with a touch of humor. Her poems are imaginative and many feel like an old friend. She sprinkles different poetic forms (sonnet, villanelle, etc.) throughout the book which keep the poems interesting. Her subjects can range from Jack's mother living with a beanstalk, a dead giant in the back yard yet an empty pantry, to conversing with her protesting knee, or the sanctity of Scrabble in her family and a letter to herself at age 99. Both Paul Clements and I have read the book and agree that this is such a wonderful read. It is definitely a collection to enjoy again and again. To find out more, you can go to her poet website, jenniferdotsonpoet.com and you can see and learn more about HP Poetry at highlandparkpoetry.org Be sure to read Paul's wonderful article about Jennifer in this month's Highland Park Neighbors! |
