Rikki Santer

Rikki Santer has worked as a journalist, magazine and book editor, co-founder and managing editor of an alternative city newspaper in Cleveland, poet-in-the schools, high school teacher of English and film studies, and director of a student writing center. She holds an Ohio Department of Education Lead Professional Educator teaching license as well as National Board teacher certification and is a former vice-president of the Ohio Poetry Association.

She earned an MA degree in journalism from Kent State University and an MFA degree in creative writing from The Ohio State University. In 2023 she was named Ohio Poet of the Year and in 2026 she became Artist-in-Residence at the Fran Ryan Center. Her work has won honors from The Poetry Forum, Black Lawrence Press, the Ohio Poetry Association, Ohio Poetry Day, the Poetry Society of Tennessee, the Pennsylvania Poetry Society, the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, as well as Pushcart and Ohioana Book Award nominations, individual artist grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is entering her sixth year as a member of the Ohio Arts Council’s teaching roster.

Two of her published poetry collections have explored place: Front Nine (the Hopewell earthworks of Newark, Ohio) and Kahiki Redux (the late Kahiki Supper Club of Columbus, Ohio). Clothesline Logic was published by Pudding House as finalist in their national chapbook competition. She has also published six full-length collections: Fishing for Rabbits (Kattywompus Press), Make Me That Happy (NightBallet Press), Dodge Tuck, Roll (Crisis Chronicles Press), In Pearl Broth, (Stubborn Mule Press), How to Board a Moving Ship (Lily Poetry Review Books) and Zebra Lashes (Fernwood Press). Reflecting her love of pop culture: Drop Jaw, inspired by the art of ventriloquism (NightBallet Press), Head to Toe of It, a chapbook of poems exploring the complicated notions of fashion, (Kelsay Books), and Stopover, inspired by the classic Twilight Zone series (Luchador Press). Her art chapbook, Resurrection Letter: Leonora, Her Tarot, and Me, inspired by the paintings of the late Leonora Carrington (Cereal Box Press) was grand prize short-listed for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and her collection, Shepherd’s Hour, won the Paul Nemser Book Prize from Lily Poetry Review Books. Her fifteenth poetry collection, Could Be, was published this spring by Sheila-Na-Gig Press.

RECENT PROJECTS: Ohio Poetry Association’s Underground Railroad Whistle-Stop Poetry Tour (Kelton House, Columbus): Poetry workshop.

TeachArtsOhio Poet-in-Residence, Woodcrest Elementary (Columbus), Created and lead an English Lanugage Arts unit that included guest speakers, writing poems exploring student selected topics (homelessness and animal welfare), and a hands-on project which involved implementing a marketing plan (letters, flyers, video) to call on others to donate to their cause. Led students to create an illustrated book of their original poems writen during the school year and hosted a family celebration of the students’ work.

A year-long TeachArtsOhio residency working with the Gifted and Talented teacher, Stephanie Crust, I taught her students the critical tools necessary to analyze documentary films through a genre study and then I led them through the process of making their own documentary film highlighting a community issue. Students decided to study the origins and development of their regional school system which they shaped into a short film they titled, “Evolution of Panther Pride.” Through this process they learned how to research historical sources, how to plan and conduct effective interviews, and how to incorporate effective camera shots and editing techniques. The project culminated in a movie premiere event for the entire community held at the Wells Township Community Center, which was well attended and covered by the local press.

Artist-in-Residence of the Fran Ryan Center; Columbus, Ohio where I led a variety of weekly experiences I titled, “What’s Cool About Aging,” designed to help forge lyrical possibilities from attendees. As the group began to coalesce, they continued to discover how to tell their stories in imaginative and beautiful ways through lively writing workshops, a field trip to a Metro Park as well as a year-long movie series. An anthology of their writings will be published in late summer and participants will be invited to read their work at a premiere party held at the Fran Ryan Center.

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