Ron Self (1847-2020). Courtesy Turner College of Business.
Ronald Wayne Self (May 6, 1947 - July 3, 2020)[1] was an American poet, lawyer, and musician.[2]
Life[]
Self was born in Columbus, Georgia,[3] to Elsie (Cochran) and J.C. Self of Hurtsboro, Alabama.[1]
He graduated from Birmingham-Southern College, and then served 2 years in the U.S. army. In 1969 he married Sharon Williams of Fairfax, Alabama, whom he met at Southern. The couple had 2 sons, Jeremy and Stephen.[1]
Self then attended University of Alabama law school. Following graduation, he moved to Columbus, where he practiced law with several firms for almost 5 decades.[1]
Self taught at Columbus State University,[2] and at Turner Business College.[4]
His work appeared in Atlanta Review, The English Journal, Encore, Legal Studies Forum, and other regional and local anthologies.[2]
He was co-founder and editor of Brick Road Poetry Press.[2]
Self showcased his love of poetry by holding workshops in his home for many years, by leading Open Mic poetry readings at The Columbus Public Library and the Schwob School of Music, and by celebrating National Poetry Month in April, inviting Columbus dignitaries to read their favorite poems. He was an active member of the Georgia Poetry Society for many years, serving as its President from in 2007-2009. He was also a founding organizer of the Chattahoochee Valley Writers Conference and served as its chair for several years.[1]
He died July 3, 2020 at Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown Hospital, age 73, survived by his wife, his sons, and 4 grandchildren .[1]
Writing[]
John Ottley, Jr.: "I always feel like a tenpin at the far end of a bowling alley when I start reading one of Ron Self’s poems. Something big is coming. I don’t yet know what it is, but there’s an ominous rolling sound far away, barely discernible to my flat little wooden ears just below my red stripe. Then I see it. Bigger and bigger until its mass and sound knock me over. The meaning sinks in, and I spin helplessly on the blonde oak flooring."[5]
Melisa Cahnman-Taylor: "In the tradition of war poets of our time (e.g., Wilfred Owen, Bruce Weigl, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Brian Turner), Art of War is haunting, lyrical, and instructional.... These poems provide the sights, sounds, and the (non-) sense of war alongside unflinching human truths. The soldiers' Biblical passages and green jungles give way to a widow's obsessive grief, a sergeant's grim humor, a child's imagination, and the numb amnesia of forgetfulness "that obscures the great lesson of history." The poems are omens and invocations, drawing our attention to war's grim reality through vivid hot kerosene detail and sonic trance."[6]
Recognition[]
His chapbook Act of War won the 2017 Charles Dickson Chapbook Competition.[6]
Publications[]
Brick Road Poetry Press Origin Story
Poetry[]
- Rich Man's Son: Poems. Columbus, GA: Brick Road Poetry Press, 2013.
- Art of War (edited by Michael Diebert). 2019.[7]
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[8]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Obituary for Ronald Wayne Self, McMullen Funeral Home. Web, July 6, 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ron Self, Cortland Review, 48:1 (August 2010). Web, Aug. 30, 2019.
- ↑ About the Author, Rich Man's Son, Amazon.com. Web, Aug. 30, 2019.
- ↑ Faculty and Staff, Turner College of Business. Web, Aug. 30, 2019.
- ↑ Rich Man's Son by Ron Self, Brick Road Poetry Press. Web, Aug. 30, 2019.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Victor Hugo Jr., "Art of War" by local poet Ron Self, alt.arts.poetry.comments, August 29, 2019. Message-ID: <41e5c013-0a5b-4c4a-a9cc-20837119020f@googlegroups.com> Web, Aug. 30, 2019.
- ↑ Art of War, Amazon.com. Web, Aug. 30, 2019.
- ↑ Search results = au:Ron Self, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 30, 2019.
External links[]
- Poetry
- "Salt Lick"
- Poetry from Rich Man's Son (8 poems)
- Audio / video
- Books
- Ron Self at Amazon.com
- About
- for Ronald Wayne Self at McMullen Funeral Home
- Brick Road Poetry Press
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