Barbara Fant

Barbara Fant is an acclaimed poet who has been writing and performing for over fifteen years. She has competed in nine National Poetry Slam competitions and placed 8^th out of 96 poets in the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam. She is te author of two poetry collections: Paint, Inside Out (2010) from Penmanship Books and Mouths of Garden (2022) from Sundress Publications. Her work has been featured in the Academy of American Poets, Electric Literature, McNeese Review, The Ohio State University Press, Button Poetry, and Def Poetry Jam, amongst others. Additionally, she has received residencies in Havana, Cuba and Senegal, West Africa.

Fant’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Language Arts, a Master’s degree in Theological Studies, and a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry. Her entire life has been a blend of both theology and poetry. She initially went to school to be a prison chaplain, and served in a youth prison ministry. Her thesis in seminary was about lyrical theology and using poetics as a way to not just communicate about faith, but to come into an understanding about personal faith. She is also a certified Healing Centered Engagement Specialist.

Fant is the 2009 recipient of the Cora Craig Award for Young Authors from Penmanship Books, was named one of Columbus Alive Magazine’s “People to Watch” in 2017, received the 2017 Trailblazer Award from the Red Zone and the 2017 and 2021 Honored Artist Award from the Arts Foundation of Olde Towne East, was named one of the 2023 “Unstoppable 100 Trailblazing Women & Girls” by Role Model Magazine, and received the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Methodist Theological School of Delaware, Ohio. She has been commissioned by over 20 local and national organizations and has been the inaugural artist-in-residence for three organizations: Harmony Project, Thiossane Institute, and the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop. She is the founder of Bloom Life Foundation Inc., the Black Women Rise Poetry Collective, and co-founder of the Senghor Project, West African International Artist Residency.