Update! Jonathan’s Field Trip is posted and a new Cottage Quote has been added.  The end of National Poetry Month is nearing.  My closing post will celebrate some very special poets.  Until then, have a joyous Easter.

This week I’m introducing you to a longtime friend, Jonathan Rice.  Jonathan and I met years ago during National Poetry Month.  Imagine that!  We were both attending a poetry reading by Cathy Smith Bowers, currently the North Carolina Poet Laureate.  After the reading several of us talked about our desire for a poetry critique group.  A quick exchange of phone numbers and emails and we were on our way.  Our little band of poets, 8 of us I think, met for about 5 years.  It was a great time.

As with most groups, each of us grew and eventually we went onto other creative outlets.  One member wrote a YA novel, garnering an award or two – I’ll interview her later.  Jonathan went on to pursue some interesting poetic endeavors.  And that’s why during National Poetry Month he’s one of my featured poets.

Jonathan K. Rice, originally from Indiana, grew up in south Florida, and presently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife and family.  He studied music at Florida University, received his Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and did graduate work at Erskine Theology Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theology Seminary at Charlotte.

In 2002 he co-edited a chapbook, Celebrating Life, a project funded by Barnes & Noble in celebration of National Poetry Month and in memory of Dorothy Perry Thompson, noted poet and instructor at Winthrop University.  In addition to his own chapbook and full-length collection of poetry, his poems have appeared in Adagio Verse Quarterly, The Aurorean, Blue Unicorn, Cold Mountain Review, Comstock Review, Dead Mule School of Literature, Gargoyle, Isle of Myst Review, Kakalak, Main Street Rag, Pedestal, Sacred Journal, Slipstream and Sundog: A Southern Review.  He’s been a longtime host of poetry readings in Charlotte.  He’s also the founder and editor of Iodine Poetry Journal.

Although he spends much of his time writing and editing Iodine, Jonathan is also a visual artist.  He works primarily in acrylics on canvas, but also works with mixed media and assemblage.  After Iodine Poetry Journal changed cover formats with the Fifth Anniversary Issue, Jonathan decided to feature his art on the cover of the magazine, garnering some attention.  In a recent review, Philip Miller, writing for Literary Magazine Review, commented on an issue, “Its handsome cover…features a sophisticated fusion of post-modern textures and colors with a mid-twentieth century non-objective abstraction.”

Read more about Jonathan’s writing life through A Writer’s Window.

On the Bookshelf is Iodine Poetry Journal.  Take a peek and see the amazing journey this little journal has taken.

On Thursday I’ll be back with Jonathan’s Field Trip to Jackson’s Java and I’ll have a new Cottage Quote.  Have a great half-week.