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Taking Your Poetry from Private to Public

Writer in Residence Class

With 2026 Writer in Residence Brad Ricca

This workshop will be for poets of all skill levels who want to learn how to move from an isolated experience (which is one of the best parts of poetry) to a more public space. What are the many advantages of opening up your work to others? The goal of this class will be to learn how to workshop and submit poetry to many of the places that are out there. What do you have to gain in sharing your work? What do you have to lose? Please bring one poem (it should not be perfect because it never is).

Brad Ricca, Cuyahoga County Public Library's 2026 Writer in Residence, is the award-winning author of seven books. His latest, released in October 2025, is Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency. His earlier works include Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster – the Creators of Superman (winner of the Ohioana Book Award); Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City's Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation; and True Raiders: The Untold Story of the 1909 Expedition to Find the Legendary Ark of the Covenant.

Involved with CCPL throughout his writing career as a frequent speaker at library branches, Ricca joined Henry Winkler in 2023 as part of the William N. Skirball Writer’s Center Stage Series, presented by the CCPL Foundation and Case Western Reserve University.

Ricca has a PhD from Case Western Reserve University, where he was awarded the Richard A. Bloom, MD, Award for Distinguished Teaching.