Doc Janning

Doc Janning, the 80-year-old Inaugural Poet Laureate of South Euclid, Ohio, is a poet, author, educator, longtime Scout Leader, and retired Podiatrist. He has created Ekphrastic Poetry for Heights Arts in Cleveland Heights, OH, and for Cleveland Photo Fest. He has been a Writer-in-the-Window at Appletree Books for National Novel Writers' Month. He has been a featured reader for many events, a visiting instructor in poetry for fourth graders at a school in Tennessee, and the moderator/instructor...See more

Doc Janning, the 80-year-old Inaugural Poet Laureate of South Euclid, Ohio, is a poet, author, educator, longtime Scout Leader, and retired Podiatrist. He has created Ekphrastic Poetry for Heights Arts in Cleveland Heights, OH, and for Cleveland Photo Fest. He has been a Writer-in-the-Window at Appletree Books for National Novel Writers' Month. He has been a featured reader for many events, a visiting instructor in poetry for fourth graders at a school in Tennessee, and the moderator/instructor for a workshop on ekphrastic poetry in Florida.Doc, in his capacity as Poet Laureate, reads for every meeting of the South Euclid City Council, for all major holidays, and at any civic event for which he is asked; sometimes with a company of local poets. He has also been "loaned" to the City of Lyndhurst for their Annual Independence Day Concert, and to the Cuyahoga County Council for their swearing-in ceremony and that of their new County Executive, Chris Ronayne.When the National Federation of State Poetry Societies held its Annual Conference in joint session with that of the Ohio Poetry Association in June, 2022, Doc served on a panel discussing The Power of Literary Citizenship. And, In August 2023, he read as a selected Poet Laureate at the Ohio Poetry Association's Poetry Showcase at the Ohio State Fair.Doc's work has been included in 30 anthologies, with three of his poems included in the most recent one," A Poem for Cleveland," issued in June 2023 by Red Giant Books.Doc's favorite quote is by the late Rod McKuen: "It doesn't matter who you love or how you love, but that you love." See less