Meet Anna Barnes of Westwood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Barnes.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
First off, thank you so much for including me in your Inspiring Stories series!

I grew up in Medina, Ohio where I was immersed in and allowed to freely explore and develop a deep appreciation for the sciences, reading and writing, and nature through my exposure to all academic subject areas, all types of arts, and the great outdoors both in school and at home. These interests transformed into coping skills that helped me combat adverse experiences throughout childhood.

At 18, I moved to Toledo, Ohio and attended college at the University of Toledo. During my undergraduate career, I participated in extracurricular events from ballroom dance to DEEP poetry club to park cleanups through the University of Toledo’s annual Big Event service project. I also worked at a planetarium and later a science center, where I discovered my love for education and working with kids. I received my Bachelor of Science in Physics with a minor in Chemistry in 2015. I later returned to the University of Toledo where I received my Master of Education in Middle Childhood Math and Science.

I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 2018 upon being hired by Cincinnati Public Schools. I worked as a high school math teacher at Woodward Career Technical High School and then as a middle school math teacher and the Astronomy Club advisor at Aiken New Tech High School. After five years of teaching, I gained a deeper understanding of the systemic issues public schools and therefore my students face, and the roadblocks preventing me from changing things from the inside. In 2023, I quit teaching to pursue a career that would allow me to use art and science to make lasting changes in my community. In 2025, I began working for Cincinnati Museum Center and began supporting independent journalism through my work with Signal Cincinnati.

I have been writing poetry since 2005. I was an angsty middle schooler at that time, so you can imagine the moods of those poems! My poetry career accelerated in 2024 when I began performing at open mics. I quickly became exposed to the vibrant art community across Cincinnati and received many opportunities to develop myself as an artist. In 2025, I self-published my first poetry book, a full-length collection called, “Out of Ink and Ideas.” In 2026, I self-published my second poetry book, a chapbook titled, “bloom // wilt.” I also have work published in The University of Toledo’s The Mill Magazine, IndyUntitled’s [Insert Title Here] zine, and Angry Cow Poetry’s Outdoor Voices in an Indoor World video collections. My poetry journey has transformed me into a community organizer and I currently work with community members, local artists, and small businesses on a variety of projects, collaborations, and events.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In these first two years of my career as a performance poet and author, the biggest struggle has been finding time, space, and money to create my art. I think all artists relate deeply to this challenge. There are large social requirements in both my day job and my personal life, and I find it difficult to get coworkers, friends, and found family to understand that I often need a silent space to myself in order to write. Money has also been a concern, since I must front funds for travel, book printing, performance outfits, and other supplies. Despite these struggles, my art is one of my top priorities, as I feel its release is a need, not a want. In the past year, I’ve read several books that have helped me cope with these obstacles, including “Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts” by Margaret Atwood and “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf. I highly reccommend these works to anyone who can relate. My new chapbook, “bloom // wilt,” was partly inspired by Woolf’s ideas on gender fluidity and the ways artists seek to take up space of their own. There have been so many poems lost to the ether because I had a good start, but could not find time nor a quiet space to finish the pieces.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I currently work as an assistant manager at Cincinnati Museum Center and as a documenter for Signal Cincinnati to support local journalism. In the past, I taught middle and high school math for five years and was the Astronomy Club advisor for two years at Woodward Career Tech High School and Aiken New Tech High School in Cincinnati Public Schools. I have also worked at a science center, at a planetarium, as a tutor, as an undergraduate researcher, in childcare at a Montessori school, as a barista, as a shift supervisor, in retail, and in the food industry.

In all my roles, I am most proud of being an expert in community organizing and leadership. My favorite part of any job, including creative endeavors, is when I get to connect a community member, small business, local artist, or organization to another. Over the years, I have helped local musicians put bands together, worked with local businesses in many different Cincinnati neighborhoods to create events that make art more accessible to communities, guided poets to open mics and other opportunities that they didn’t previously know about, connected students to community resources, and much more.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t believe in luck! But I do understand that privilege has played a part in my life, including in my career and artistic opportunities. Most notably, I was able to access higher education without almost any roadblocks, and in fact was influenced by the adults in my life to go to college, which allowed me to gain the skills and experiences that made me who I am today. Without the opportunities I had in college, especially my roles as a planetarium host, an undergraduate researcher, and a student teacher, I may not have learned how to be a great educator, leader, and performer. My current mission as a leader in the community is to provide easier access to experiences of these types to developing artists and other humans that may not find themselves with the privileges I had.

Pricing:

• Out of Ink and Ideas (soft cover): $20
• Out of Ink and Ideas (PDF): $15
• bloom // wilt (soft cover): $20
• bloom // wilt (PDF): $15
• bloom // wilt golden bookmark: $5

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sumofthegoodthings
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annabarnes288
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sumofthegoodthings

Image Credits
Anna Barnes
Dennis Gray
Chris Rogge