Poet Profile

Barbara Sabol

Barbara Sabol is an editor and poet, writing both long- and short-form poetry. She is the Assistant Editor of Sheila-Na-Gig online (2021 to present). Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Barbara holds an MFA from Spalding University. She is a happily retired speech therapist who walks the woods with her dogs when not at her desk. She conducts poetry workshops for Literary Cleveland and Lit Youngstown.

Awards and Other Honors:

include an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council; first place in the Mary Jean Irion Poetry Prize; first place in the Heidi Knecht Memorial Competition; Winner of the Poetry Manuscript Prize from Sheila-Na-Gig Editions (2019); four Pushcart Prize nominations; second place in HSA's Haibun competition (2021); two Touchstone Award nominations (2021); inclusion in Contemporary Haibun 17 and String Theory (Red Moon Press) and in Haiku 2022 (Modern Haiku Press.)

Books Published:

Imagine a Town (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2020); Solitary Spin (Main Street Rag Press, 2017); The Distance between Blues (Finishing Line Press, 2012); Original Ruse (Accents Publishing, 2011).

the heady scent
of printer's ink―
first day of school

the world news
I eat my apple
core and all

community garden
so many names
for lettuce

moon flower 
the night garden
fragrant with light

another shooting
leaves of my prayer plant
unfurl

doll house 
where my real family 
still lives

Credits:

“the heady scent” - Presence issue 62, Nov. 2018; “the world news” - Prune Juice Journal issue 35, Nov. 2021; “community garden” - Acorn Issue #43, Fall 2019; “moon flower” - The Heron's Nest vol. XXIII, issue 3, Sept. 2021; “another shooting” - Modern Haiku, vol. 53.1 Winter 2022; “doll house” -Frogpond vol. 44.3, Autumn 2021.