About the Flamingo Writers Guild
Founded in December 2021, the Flamingo Writers Guild is a literary group based in Parma, Ohio. We are dedicated to connecting, promoting, and educating local writers. Our initiatives include workshops, readings, promoting local talent, connecting writers through events, and philanthropic educational work. Events and public readings are posted to our Facebook page. If you are interested in helping with educational outreach for Parma City Schools, please contact us at flamingowritersguild@gmail.com.
Mission Statement
The Flamingo Writers Guild was established with the belief that literature is a necessary element of a thriving culture. Our mission is to create an environment that helps writers—the building blocks of the literary community—succeed by offering training, workshops, education, publication, social and networking opportunities for writers regardless of background.
Founded in December 2021, the Flamingo Writers Guild is a literary group based in Parma, Ohio. We are dedicated to connecting, promoting, and educating local writers. Our initiatives include workshops, readings, promoting local talent, connecting writers through events, and philanthropic educational work. Events and public readings are posted to our Facebook page. If you are interested in helping with educational outreach for Parma City Schools, please contact us at flamingowritersguild@gmail.com.
Mission Statement
The Flamingo Writers Guild was established with the belief that literature is a necessary element of a thriving culture. Our mission is to create an environment that helps writers—the building blocks of the literary community—succeed by offering training, workshops, education, publication, social and networking opportunities for writers regardless of background.
OFFICERS IN FLIGHT
Jeremy Jusek is the poet laureate of Parma, Ohio. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University and authored the collection We Grow Tomatoes in Tiny Towns (2019). He hosts the Ohio Poetry Association's podcast Poetry Spotlight, runs the West Side Poetry Workshop, and founded the Flamingo Writers Guild. He is also the philanthropy director for the nonprofit Young Professionals of Parma and started the Poets and Playwrights Summer Writing Fellowship through Marietta College. For more information on his projects and publications, please visit jeremyjusek.com.
Barbara Marie Minney, a native of West Virginia, writes personal poetry that describes her feelings, thoughts, and passions while struggling to live her truth as a transgender woman. She began her transition to living authentically as the woman that she now knows she was meant to be at the age of 63 after repressing her true gender identity for over 60 years. Barbara’s first collection of poetry, If There’s No Heaven, was the winner of the 2020 Poetry Is Life Book Award and was published in May of 2020 by Poetry Is Life Publishing. It was selected by the Akron Beacon Journal as a Best Northeast Ohio Book in 2020. Barbara is also the author of the Poetic Memoir Chapbook Challenge. Barbara has appeared on the West Virginia Author TV program and the Transpositive radio program. Barbara is a retired attorney and lives in Tallmadge, Ohio, with her wife of 40 years and a menagerie of stuffed animals. Learn more about Barbara at www.barbaramarieminneypoetry.com.
Michelle Sokol earned her BA in English from Baldwin-Wallace, MLIS from Kent State, and her Master’s in Nonprofit Administration. Michelle founded the Beyond Light and Love Nonprofit, an organization dedicated to public education in positive problem solving. She is a Usui Reiki Master, Thai Massage Practitioner, inspirational intuitive, relationship guide, and lifetime advocate for mental wellness. Michelle has an extensive teaching background with non-traditional students and extensive hands-on experience with neurodivergent individuals and those on the spectrum. She is the author of Love Every Body Love Your Self (2019) and Tessellation Theory (2019). Learn more at www.studiosokol.com.
Kathleen Farris specializes in marketing, digital media, and communications. She earned her MBA from the University of Akron, and her BA in Psychology from Marietta College. She currently lives in Akron, Ohio where she spends her spare time volunteering, going to bar trivia nights, and playing recreational kickball.
