Columbus Metropolitan Library hosts engaging national authors for talks, readings and discussions. This free virtual event is co-hosted by Columbus State Community College Library.

Ask questions and live chat with the author from your computer or mobile device. Can’t attend the live stream? Sign up and watch the recording afterwards.

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Virtual Author Talk with poet Barbara Fant

Healing Through Poetry
Join us to hear poet Barbara Fant discuss personal and systemic traumas she’s faced as a Black woman and her journey of healing through the arts.

Barbara Fant is a teacher, performer, award-winning poet and author of Paint, Inside Out. She also published two chapbooks in 2017, RibCaged and Them Brilliant Suns. Her work has been commissioned by local and national organizations including a commission from The Columbus Foundation to create a spoken-word piece to celebrate Columbus’ Bicentennial.

Fant has competed in nine national and world poetry slams and placed 8th out of 96 poets in the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam in Denver. She was a featured speaker for TedxColumbus.

She is a native of Youngstown and holds degrees in literature, theological studies and creative writing.

The founder of Bloom Barb Fant, LLC, she teaches poetry in correctional institutions and schools. Currently, she is the Artistic Director for Harmony Project, a teaching artist at Transit Arts, and co-curator of the reading series Paging Columbus. Barbara believes in the transformative power of art and considers poetry her ministry.

Learn more and hear her perform original poetry at barbarafant.com.

Dr. Crystal Clark is a Professor of English at Columbus State Community College. She has taught composition, creative writing and literature for CSCC for more than 25 years and is the recipient of a Distinguished Teaching Award and a Distinguished Full Professor Award.

Dr. Clark holds an MA in English from The Ohio State University, a Master’s of Theological Studies from Methodist Theological School and a PhD in Higher Education Administration from University of Toledo.

Author Talk with Barbara Fant