Michelle Smith (Michelle R. Smith) is a poet, writer, educator, and cultural facilitator. She is the Programming Director for Literary Cleveland and Curator of Broadsides & Ephemera, free poetry showcase and open mic at Loganberry Books. Michelle is the author of the poetry collections Ariel in Black (Guide to Kulchur, 2015) and The Vagina Analogues (self-published, 2020). She has been published in The Normal School, The Gasconade Review, New Note Poetry, and Merge Magazine, among other journals. She has been a featured reader, instructor, and panelist at The Lakewood Public Library, The East Cleveland Public Library, The Cuyahoga County Public Library, The Cleveland Museum of Arts, Cleveland Drafts – Brews + Prose, PNC Fairfax Connection, Case Western Reserve University’s Writers House, and Literary Cleveland’s Inkubator Conference. Michelle has also performed for Story Club CLE, Con Tu, and the comedy improv shows This Improvised Life and Mental Health & Friends. Finally, Michelle is the creator, producer, and director of BLAX MUSEUM, an annual performance showcase for Northeast Ohio artists open to all forms and dedicated to honoring notable black figures in American history and culture, originated in 2018. BLAX Museum has been a featured Black History Month program at East Cleveland Public Library and Twinsburg Public Library in February 2019-2024.