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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Business profile: Couple opens second Pita Pit in Ashland Nazi POWS once held at Camp White near Medford Learn about proposed 55-mile scenic bikeway outside Ashland Plastic Round-up set for May in new location Ashlanders respond to controversy raised by Indiana law Education Bracing for Common Core Ashland Kiwanis recognize Lillian Huang Chautauqua series brings author Jane Hamilton to Ashland Ashland Runs on Volunteers: OLLI classes pay dividends in joy of teaching, learning New Southern Oregon University board votes to bump tuition nearly 5 percent in the fall Environment Lots to celebrate at SOU Arbor Day rites Mt. Ashland Ski Area to host party March 28 Mt. Ashland hopes coming storm will reopen ski area Wild Side: Selfish and other reasons for saving endangered species Mt. 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Learn about proposed 55-mile scenic bikeway outside Ashland ... Plastic Round-up set for May in new location ... Nazi POWS once held at Camp White near Medford ... Learn about proposed 55-mile scenic bikeway outside Ashland ... Plastic Round-up set for May in new location ... ASHLAND HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNA Poet returns to Ashland Tumblr star to read at Black Swan Theatre By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Apr. 2, 2015 @ 5:11 pm Updated Apr 2, 2015 at 5:12 PM By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Apr. 2, 2015 @ 5:11 pm Updated Apr 2, 2015 at 5:12 PM » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2324,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Fans of Clementine von Radics can relax. The Tumblr poetry star, Ashland High School alumna and author of two (and soon-to-be three) poetry compilations is doing just fine, thank you, even if her gut-wrenching prose occasionally suggests otherwise. “For me, poetry is a way that I kind of get things out and it allows me to be a much more stable person,” she said. “But I get emails from people who think I’m in so much pain. They think I’m a trembling, broken person, and that’s always surprising.” Von Radics, 23, who graduated from Ashland High in 2010 and currently attends Portland State University, will be back in town next week to perform as a featured artist at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Hip-Hop Poetry Open Mic event from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at the Black Swan Theatre. Von Radics says she has always been an avid reader and kept a diary — two to three pages a day since she was about 19 — for as long as she can remember, but about three years ago those diary entries began to look like poetry. Soon thereafter she began to post her poems on Tumblr, a microblogging website. At first, von Radics’ expectations were modest — to keep writing, accept feedback and possibly make a few connections. Like most young writers, von Radics didn’t arrive fully formed. Some of her early poems hit their mark and some didn’t. But one, a poem called “Mouthful of Forevers,” became a huge hit after it was published in her first book in 2013, inspiring fans to tattoo their favorite lines on their bodies, post their own interpretations on YouTube and, more than anything, pay attention. Predictably, von Radics' Tumblr numbers exploded. “It was the second-to-last poem in my first book,” she said. “I never posted it online and I didn’t think it was particularly special, but it’s kind of gotten away from me now. It has a life of its own, which is great.” Now, she has 150,000 Tumblr followers, is featured on the Tumblr Poetry Spotlight and a YouTube video of her “For Teenage Girls with Wild Ambition and Trembling Hearts” reading at the Soap Boxing Poetry Slam in St. Paul, Minn., in February has 63,910 views and counting. Composer Stephen Schwartz has adapted von Radics’ work into a song cycle which will debut at Carnegie Hall in 2016. Von Radics’ initial success prompted a leap of faith that she now says was a little premature. She quit her job earlier than she should have, after her first book sold 100 copies in 24 hours. Live and learn. Still, six months later her writing was paying the bills. And though she’s still working on wrapping up her bachelor’s at Portland State, poetry has already become a full-fledged career. Von Radics was able to turn her online popularity into a book deal six months ago, when Andrews McMeel Publishing contacted her and made an offer she couldn’t refuse. The only catch, she had two months to write about 20 new poems and compile them into a manuscript. “It was very frenzied and stressful, but now that the book is (coming) out, it’s fun,” said von Radics, who also runs a small printing press. The book, titled “Mouthful of Forevers” will hit the shelves Tuesday. It’s currently the 15th-ranked book of poetry by a female author on Amazon.com. The title poem is a true gut-spilling. It begins: “I am not the first person you loved. You are not the first person I looked at with a mouthful of forevers. We have both known loss like the sharp edges of a knife. We have both lived with lips more scar tissue than skin.” It ends like this: “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I will love you when you are a still day. I will love you when you are a hurricane.” Von Radics says that not all her work is autobiographical but “Mouthful of Forevers” is. She wrote it about a special friend as they endured a hardship. Their relationship didn’t last, but the friendship did. “We actually broke up about six months after that,” von Radics said. “But we stayed really close friends and roommates. They were just going through a really hard time and I was trying to express unflinching devotion to someone you love, that I’m always going to be there to take care of you.” Von Radics promotes her work through her blog (clementinepoetry.com), at which she posts an original poem every Sunday, and poetry readings. She estimates she’s performed about 100 readings, including a performance at Powell’s Books in Portland on Wednesday. Not all go swimmingly. Once, she showed up for a reading in Corvallis and was greeted by an audience of four. Another time, she showed up at Indiana University and performed in a dorm as students trampled through the lobby and prepared food in the kitchen. “I was like, ‘I didn’t realize it would be in a dorm while you’re going to be microwaving ramen noodles,’” she said, laughing. Von Radics’ first live performance was at the Portland Poetry Slam in 2013. She was as nervous as she’s ever been, but got through it. Now, she belts out her words with confidence and walks off the stage to loud ovations. It doesn’t always come easy, she admits. After all, one can’t always recapture a specific emotion that was wrung out onto a page months or even years prior. She’s a professional, though, and knows her limits. “It’s more challenging some days than others,” she said. “There are some days when I don’t feel like being bombastic and big. I’m a pretty quiet person and there are a lot of days when I don’t want to shout at strangers. But I can still remember the feeling and there are kind of universal things. Like “Mouthfuls of Forevers,” that poem is about devotion and gratitude. Ultimately, I feel devotion and gratitude to the audience.” Joe Zavala is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Apr. 2, 2015 @ 5:11 pm Updated Apr 2, 2015 at 5:12 PM » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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