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Our Way of Life: Poems
A strong book of poetry treating the author's roots and vision. Many poems question America's political positions that ignore most of American people. These poems come alive on the page as well as the stage when the author is performing them.
126 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2007
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About the author
Ray McNiece
16 books3 followersRay McNiece has earned a national reputation as a poet and performer for almost two decades through his solo theater pieces, his poetry and music shows, his captaining of 2 National Poetry Slam Championship teams, his "edutaining" children's shows and workshops, and his yearly country-wide tours of performance poems, stories and songs.
Ray McNiece has authored eleven books of poems and monologues and CDs, most recently Love Song for Cleveland, a collaboration with photographer Tim Lachina and Breath Burns Away, New Haiku. The Orlando Sentinel reporting on Ray's solo theater piece at the Fringe Festival called him "a modern day descendant of Woody Guthrie. He has a way with words and a wry sense of humor." He toured Russia with Yevgeny Yevtushenko, appeared on Good Morning, Russia and performed at the Moscow Polytech, the Russian Poets? Hall of Fame where he was dubbed "the American Mayakovski." He has toured Italy twice with legendary Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He fronts the blues rock band, Tongue-in-Groove. Among many awards, he has received a Creative Work Force Fellowship and residencies at The Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Jack Kerouac House. He is currently Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cleveland Arts Prize.
Highlights of his past tours include a keynote address shared with Robert Bly at the First Coast Writers Conference, a featured reading at the opening of City Lights Italia in Florence with Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and a performance with his band Tongue in Groove at the Starwood Festival, opening for legendary drummer Babatunde Oluntunje. In the summer of 2001 he toured Russia with Yevgeny Yevtushenko where he appeared on Good Morning, Russia and performed at the Moscow Polytech, the Russian Poets' Hall of Fame where he was dubbed "the American Mayakovski."
He has received numerous awards for his writing and performance, including the 2001 Hart Crane Award from KSU, a residency in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and a residency at the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida. He was the captain of two National Poetry Slam Championship teams ('92 Boston, '94 Cleveland) and won the Arkansas Grand Slam, the largest performance poetry prize ever awarded.
Ray is also an accomplished actor and has appeared in plays at Ensemble, Dobama, Cleveland Public and Cleveland Playhouse theatres. He was an original cast member of the improv comedy Flanigan's Wake. He performs in schools as Johnny Appleseed. He was also a playwright for CPTs, Blue Sky Tranmission, and acted in Open Mind Firmament as Cuchullain, legendary Irish hero. His last production at CPT was Barbecue.
Ray McNiece has authored eleven books of poems and monologues and CDs, most recently Love Song for Cleveland, a collaboration with photographer Tim Lachina and Breath Burns Away, New Haiku. The Orlando Sentinel reporting on Ray's solo theater piece at the Fringe Festival called him "a modern day descendant of Woody Guthrie. He has a way with words and a wry sense of humor." He toured Russia with Yevgeny Yevtushenko, appeared on Good Morning, Russia and performed at the Moscow Polytech, the Russian Poets? Hall of Fame where he was dubbed "the American Mayakovski." He has toured Italy twice with legendary Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He fronts the blues rock band, Tongue-in-Groove. Among many awards, he has received a Creative Work Force Fellowship and residencies at The Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Jack Kerouac House. He is currently Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cleveland Arts Prize.
Highlights of his past tours include a keynote address shared with Robert Bly at the First Coast Writers Conference, a featured reading at the opening of City Lights Italia in Florence with Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and a performance with his band Tongue in Groove at the Starwood Festival, opening for legendary drummer Babatunde Oluntunje. In the summer of 2001 he toured Russia with Yevgeny Yevtushenko where he appeared on Good Morning, Russia and performed at the Moscow Polytech, the Russian Poets' Hall of Fame where he was dubbed "the American Mayakovski."
He has received numerous awards for his writing and performance, including the 2001 Hart Crane Award from KSU, a residency in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and a residency at the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida. He was the captain of two National Poetry Slam Championship teams ('92 Boston, '94 Cleveland) and won the Arkansas Grand Slam, the largest performance poetry prize ever awarded.
Ray is also an accomplished actor and has appeared in plays at Ensemble, Dobama, Cleveland Public and Cleveland Playhouse theatres. He was an original cast member of the improv comedy Flanigan's Wake. He performs in schools as Johnny Appleseed. He was also a playwright for CPTs, Blue Sky Tranmission, and acted in Open Mind Firmament as Cuchullain, legendary Irish hero. His last production at CPT was Barbecue.
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