About Jonathan

Jonathan K. Rice, originally from Indiana, grew up in south Florida, and presently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife and family. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and also did graduate work at Erskine Theological Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary at Charlotte

In 2002 he co-edited a chapbook, Celebrating Life, a project funded by Barnes & Noble in celebration of National Poetry Month and in memory of Dorothy Perry Thompson, noted poet and instructor at Winthrop University.  He is the author of the chapbook, Shooting Pool With A Cellist (Main Street Rag Publishing, 2003) and a full-length poetry collection, Ukulele and Other Poems, (Main Street Rag, 2006). His latest book is Killing Time, just published by Main Street Rag Publishing in 2015.  His poetry has appeared in many periodicals, including The Aurorean, Blue Unicorn, Cold Mountain Review, Comstock Review, Ekphrasis, Gargoyle, HazMat Review, Kakalak, Kentucky Review, Main Street Rag, Pedestal, Sacred Journey, San Pedro River Review, Slipstream, and Sundog: A Southeast Review. He has also been a longtime host of poetry readings in Charlotte since 1999.

He edited and published Iodine Poetry Journal (which he founded in 2000) for seventeen years. He also served as co-editor of Kakalak 2016.

Iodine Poetry Journal has had the distinction of having work included in Best American Poetry 2006, which was selected and edited by former U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins.

Iodine Poetry Journal has published noted poets Joseph Bathanti, Rick Campbell, Fred Chappell, Colette Inez, Ron Koertge, Dannye Romine Powell, R.T. Smith, Shelby Stephenson, Virgil Suarez, among many other emerging and established poets. Iodine has also published International poets from countries such as Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Qatar, U.K., and others.

Many university libraries subscribe to Iodine, including Brown University, Davidson College, Furman University, University of Arizona, University at Buffalo (SUNY), University of North Carolina, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Iodine is also archived at Poet’s House in New York City.

In 2012 Central Piedmont Community College awarded him The Irene Blair Honeycutt Legacy Award for outstanding service in support of local and regional writers.

Although he spends much of his time writing and editing, Jonathan is also a visual artist. He works primarily in acrylics on canvas, but also works with mixed media and assemblage. After Iodine Poetry Journal changed cover formats with the Fifth Anniversary Issue, Jonathan decided to feature his art on the cover of the magazine, garnering some attention. In a review, Philip Miller, writing for Literary Magazine  Review, commented on an issue, “Its handsome cover…features a sophisticated fusion of post-modern textures and colors with mid-twentieth century non-objective abstraction.”

His work has been exhibited in group shows at Hart Witzen Gallery, Green Rice Gallery, MoNA (Museum of Neighborhood Art, formerly known as Plaza Muse), The Art Depot in Mooresville, NC, “Found” curated by Culture Initiative at AKA Creative, “Modern Poverty” in the Watkins Gallery at Queens University of Charlotte and solo exhibits at Jackson’s Java, a café in the University area of Charlotte, The Peculiar Rabbit in Charlotte, the Student Union Gallery on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the Pennington-McIntyre Gallery at Cleveland Community College in Shelby, NC and The New South Gallery and Studios in Statesville, NC. Some of his art has been featured in the online magazines Empty Mirror, The Pedestal, Referential Magazine, Redheaded Stepchild, Levure Litteraire and The Inflectionist Review. He was featured artist for the Spring 2015 issue of Apogee Magazine, the arts magazine of High Point University.


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