House of Toast September 27 @ 7pm

House of Toast, an eclectic assemblage of Central Ohio poets, will give a poetry reading on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. at Beehive Books.


Poet and playwright Fred Andrle, the former long-time host of WOSU’s “Open Line” talk show, will be one of the featured poets along with Linda Fuller-Smith, MJ Abel, Jerry Roscoe, Jacquelin Smith and Charlene Fix.

The House of Toast poets have been widely published and have won many literary awards. Members Roscoe and Andrle’s poems have been featured on Garrison Keiller’s public radio series, “The Writer’s Almanac.”  Read their poems here:  Andrle on Writer's Almanac  ;  Roscoe on Writer's Almanac

House of Toast was founded in 1995 as a vehicle to critique and support the members' work and poetry in general. The group has evolved into a troupe of performers known for their engaging, audience-friendly readings.

Andrle’s current poetry collection is "Love Life," published by XOXOX Press in Gambier, Ohio. He has received playwriting and poetry fellowships from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and his one-act play, “The Eternal Brunch,” was staged by CATCO, the Contemporary American Theater Company (Columbus) in 2000. He has received Ohio Public Broadcasting and Regional Emmy awards . For his radio and television programs and taught courses in mass media at Ohio Wesleyan University and Ohio Dominican University.

Fuller-Smith has been published in The Heartlands Today, Urban Spaghetti, Pudding Magazine and several anthologies.

Abell is a two-time winner of Thurber Treat humorous essay contest and has published a chapbook titled Below the Waterline.

Smith is the author of several books, including My G-Rated Life, which won the Chiron Review Chapbook Contest.

Roscoe’s collection Mirror Lake was published in Two Midwest Voices, which won the 2002 Ohioana Book Award. His poem “Illustration” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and his poems “Adequate Love” and “Bouquet” were read by Garrison Keillor on his show.

Fix is chair of the English and Philosophy department at Columbus College of Art Design. She has won poetry fellowships, and her chapbook Mischief is available from Pudding House.  Read more about Fix and her dog-inspired poetry collection here:  This Week article