The Official Bio: Jeannine is a life-long reader and writer who spent many years grading papers and writing lesson plans instead of penning the stories that were running through her mind. A series of happy coincidences led to her being accepted by the Columbus (OH) Writeshop critique group, a group that is foundational in her journey as a fiction writer.
She is has more education than is practical, including a Master of Arts in Popular Culture from Bowling Green State University, and she enjoys taking classes from The Ohio State University now that she’s retired. A poetry workshop taught by poet Kamal Kimball revitalized Jeannine’s interest in writing poetry, then further work with Frank X. Walker solidified Jeannine’s identity as a “poet.”
Jeannine’s poetry has been included in the upcoming anthology River and Rust, and her first novel, The Willow at the Edge, will be published in 2024.
The Less Official Bio: One Sunday morning when I was about three years old, my mother says I stood on the church pew singing along at the top of my voice to the opening hymn. She was surprised that I knew the hymn, so she stopped singing to listen to my enthusiastic warbling.
I was singing about Yogi Bear and Jesus, a fairly involved epic according to Mom. When the hymn ended, I sat down, apparently satisfied that I’d participated in the worship service with everyone else.
I haven’t researched it, but I possibly invented fan fiction then, in 1963. A few years later, my poetic ode to the book Little Women solidified my fan fic credentials, and since those early creative pursuits, the world in my imagination has been as real to me as the world surrounding me.
During the most of the years when I was a full-time teacher, my writing revolved around lesson plans and project directions and the occasional blog or newspaper column. After working on a few short stories, I got involved in Columbus Writeshop, an exemplary critique group. The members of that group were encouraging even when they dissected my work! I’m still involved with Writeshop, and their myriad questions and suggestions for “The Willow at the Edge” have been invaluable.
After retiring from education, I took two Poetry Workshops at Ohio State University with poet Kamal Kimball, who is an incredible poet and instructor. Thanks to her and the supportive community she created in the workshops, for the first time I embraced the label of “poet.” Continuing my work with the Artspace Lima Poetry Group lead by poet Tim Cheeseman has been an important part of honing my craft, then a week at Tremont Institute in the Great Smokey Mountains working with Frank X. Walker and six other incredible poets inspired me beyond what I could have imagined.
Meandering Bard LLC is the home of my small publishing company, which had its first book, River and Rust: An Anthology of Lima Poets, released in Fall 2023. My creative process coaching practice is also housed at the Meandering Bard site: meanderingbard.com for further info (coming soon).
Jeannine Jordan 