John Barnes has been writing poetry for 42 years and has been published in The Chained Muse, The Minison Project Sonnet Collection Series and The Lyric. He recently performed a featured reading at ArtNewCo. He is a student of verse and believes in the value of self-education.

John’s Story

At the age of 16, John’s 11-year-old sister died of Leukemia. On the morning of the funeral, he wrote his first poem, which he read at the service that day. 

At several points in his life, he dedicated himself to writing poetry. At the age of 20, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona with a close friend to write. After several months working as a dishwasher and writing very little (due to the rigors of the job) he returned to his home town and also returned to college.  

After obtaining an undergraduate degree, he and his wife were planning a family. They agreed that he would stay home and take care of the family while his wife became the provider. During this period, he wrote a long poem called The Desert City and submitted many others for publication, getting a few of them in print. Later, he focused on writing Haiku and Senryu whilst frequenting poetry open mic readings.

Since 2020, John has fully dedicated himself to reading, writing, and sharing his poetry.