Barbara Fant has been writing and performing poetry for 13 years. She has represented Columbus, OH in 9 National Poetry Slam competitions and placed 8th out of 96 poets in the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam. She is a TEDx speaker, a Columbus Makes Art Campaign artist, and was named a 2017 Columbus Alive People to Watch. Her first poetry collection, Paint, Inside Out, was published by Penmanship Books in 2010 when she was awarded the Cora Craig Award for Young Authors. She is the author of several chapbooks, the co-author of two stage productions, and has been commissioned by over ten national organizations. She has received residencies from Idyllwild Arts in Idyllwild, California and Connect Arts in Havana, Cuba. She holds an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles and a Master of Theology from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio. Her work has been featured by Button Poetry and Def Poetry Jam, and published in Electric Literature, Harness Magazine, and The Ohio State University Press. Installations of her work can be found in the Columbus Museum of Art and The Columbus Foundation. The founder of Bloom Barb Fant, LLC., she teaches poetry in correctional institutions and schools. Currently, she is the Artistic Director for Harmony Project, a teaching artist at Transit Arts, and co-curator of the reading series Paging Columbus. Barbara believes in the transformative power of art and considers poetry her ministry.

Forthcoming in 2021.