Poetry From a Local Legend in Lakewood

Vladimir Swirynsky never wrote a word of poetry until he was 45 years old.

He didn’t even know he was creative. 

Working for Republic Steel and plugging away at a 9-to-5 career, Swirynsky said he was “culturally void.”

Then, 17 years ago, his wife left him.

Swirynsky drove to New Orleans and immersed himself in the arts, as sort of a way to heal his wounds.

He went to Marti Gras, joined a band and started reading Charles Bukowski.

That’s around the time Swirynsky wrote his first line of poetry.

“After I got to New Orleans, I just soaked it all in,” he said. “I jumped off the bridge, baby.”

“I came to life.”

When he left Louisiana, he spent time traveling around the country perfecting his new craft. Poetry, he said, became his anchor.

Thirteen published books later — and now one of the most important voices in Cleveland poetry — Swirynsky is sharing is latest book “La Beau Hostel: Arizona and Other Poems” with the community.

At 7 tonight at the , Swirynsky is presenting a staged reading and an art presentation saluting veterans and Native Americans.

At a poetry slam at the on Friday night, he encouraged young poets to find their voices. 

“That only comes to the page when you allow yourself to be vulnerable, you allow yourself to be free and to be truthful about who you are and where you’ve been and what you think,” said Swirynsky. “Until you do that you can do that, you can’t write.”

“Most of all of us spend our lives hiding under a bed. I came out from under my bed.”

The event tonight is free and open to the public.