Lit News

March’s First Wednesday Reading, March 4, 7:00, The Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St., will feature fiction writer Kayla Jeswald & poet Cliff Richeal, followed by an open mic emceed by Kelsey Myers. We will also be celebrating National Poundcake Day. 2020 First Wednesday Readers Series: April 1 Thomas Beck (storytelling) Humor Open Mic May 6 Angie Orlando (memoir) Christine Howey (poetry) June 3 Nikki Robinson (poetry), Terry Provost (poetry) July 1 Diane Kendig (poetry),

here. Like to carpool with Lit Youngstown? Send us a note: LitYoungstown@gmail.com. #Books #stories #writingworkshop #WritingConferences #poetry #ShortStories #Novel #Literature

Join us for a First Wednesday Series reading by Akron Beacon Journal columnist Holly Christensen and Youngstown poet Chris Gibowicz. Open mic to follow, emceed by Jimmy Sutman. We will also be celebrating National Nutella Day. Wednesday, February 5 at the Soap Gallery at 7:00. Holly Christensen is a 2010 graduate of the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. The mother of five children between the ages of 26 and seven, Holly has been the parenting/family/comm

John Burroughs of Cleveland was recently honored as the 2019-2021 Beat Poet Laureate for the State of Ohio. He serves as the founding editor for Crisis Chronicles Press and is the author of a dozen books including, most recently, Rattle and Numb: Selected Poems, 1992-2019, published by Venetian Spider Press. Shelley Chernin is a freelance writer of legal reference books, an environmental activist and a ukulele enthusiast. She is the author of The Vigil, published by Crisis Ch

Yo, Yo-Towners! Join us for a reading by Pamela Anderson & Steve Thomas. Open mic to follow, emceed by Beth Franklin. We will also be celebrating National Nachos Day. Wednesday, November 6 at 7:00, Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St. Steve Thomas is the author of The Strength of Flowers (Crisis Chronicles Press 2018), and his poems have been published in The Mill and the Hessler Street Fair Anthology. His goal is to achieve the harmony through writing poetry that he displayed a

Mary Grimm has had two books published, Left to Themselves (novel) and Stealing Time (story collection) – both by Random House. Currently, she is working on a dystopian novel about oldsters. She teaches fiction writing at Case Western Reserve University. Susan Grimm is the author of Almost Home (1997), Lake Erie Blue (2004), and Roughed Up by the Sun’s Mothering Tongue (2011). Her poetry has appeared in Blackbird, The Journal, South Dakota Review, Poetry East, and Tar River P

The second Lou Yuhasz Memorial Scholarship is open for submissions. Each year, we will award one $100 scholarship, and invite the recipient to read their work at the Fall Literary Festival, Oct. 4-5. The winner and runner-up will receive free registration to the Festival. The 2018 scholarship recipient was D.T. McCrea, selected by Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Professor Robert Miltner and alumna Amy Sparks. This year’s judges are to be determined. If you will be a NEOMF

Lit Youngstown presents a reading with Bonné de Blas, Monica Kaiser & Sheryl St. Germain, Wednesday May 1 @ 7:00 at The Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St. No open mic this month. We will also be celebrating National Chocolate Parfait Day. Monica Kaiser is a graduate assistant at Kent State University and is pursuing a NEOMFA creative writing degree. She is the author of Still Sifting, and is passionate about the environment, ecopoetics, conflict management, and how these genre

CALL FOR PROPOSALS FALL LITERARY FESTIVAL 2019 Lit Youngstown seeks proposals for presentations, workshops, craft talks and creative readings for our 3rd annual Fall Literary Festival to be held October 4-5 at Youngstown State University. The two-day festival will feature an acclaimed faculty: Nin Andrews (poetry), Christopher Barzak (fiction), Erica Cardwell (essay, creative nonfiction), Jill Christman (creative nonfiction), Michael Croley (fiction),  George Ella Lyon (poetr

Join us for a conversation about Line Study of a Motel Clerk by First Wednesday visiting writer and native daughter Allison Pitinii Davis. Read more about/purchase this poetry collection here. Haven’t read the book yet? No worries. Join us. Here are the remaining titles in this year’s selections by writers who have recently visited the Valley: January 9 (Historical Novel) Robert Olmstead Savage Country February 13 (Nonfiction) Austin Channing Brown I’m Still Here: Black Dign

Celebrate the many exciting forms of literature with noted writers. The Lakeland Literary Festival is being held Nov. 30, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in HIVE in the H-Building. Acclaimed writers and poets will present a variety of workshops in areas such as non-fiction, fiction, poetry, translation and publishing. There will also be a book fair with many presses, magazines and organizations. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required for the wo

Wednesday, March 7, The Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St. Doors open at 7:15, reading begins at 7:30. Open mic follows the reading. Stephanie Sesic teaches writing and literature at Kent State #Books #poetry #SoapGallery

It was a great privilege to take our oral history project, Phenomenal Women: Twelve Youngstown Stories, to Arkansas in early November. At the inaugural C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference at the University of Central Arkansas, we were included on a panel of presenters from Indiana, Nebraska and Ohio. The focus of our talk was the ways that literary arts might be used give a voice to women and girls, to create bridges of understanding, healing, and empowerment. Audience membe

October’s First Wednesday Series Reading features local writer Nancy Christie and J. Everett Prewitt of Cleveland. We’ll meet at the Soap Gallery this time, 117 S. Champion St., at 7:15. An open mic will follow, emceed by Venise Abell. J. Everett Prewitt is a Vietnam veteran and a former Army officer. He holds a B.A. from #Books #stories #prose #Nonfiction #ShortStories #Literature #Novels

Join us Wednesday September 6 at 7:00 at Suzie’s Dogs & Drafts in downtown Youngstown, as we welcome Meg Johnson of Iowa and Caryl Pagel of Cleveland. Open mic to follow, emceed by Ron Book. Lit Youngstown’s First Wednesday Readers Series is funded in part by the Nathalie and James Andrews Foundation. Caryl Pagel is the author of two collections of poetry, TWICE TOLD (H_NG M_N Books, #RonBook #Books #MegJohnson #NEOMFA #CarylPagel #poetryreading #SuziesDogsampDrafts #poetry #

Announcing our Spring 2017 Menu of Workshops! Is there a road you didn’t travel? Thinking about writing the family story? Looking for advice on the nuts and bolts of editing prose? And who told you not to copy, anyway? Get your creative on in one of our spring workshops. Visit our workshop page for more information and to register. #Writers #narrativewriting #Books #writingworkshop #journeynarrative #familystory #writingpoetry #poetry #workshops #editing

Our First Wednesday Reading Series features two poets whose words have graced the poetry landscape for decades: Sean Thomas Dougherty and Terry Murcko. Wed. March 1 at 7:00 at Suzie’s Dogs & Drafts downtown. Open mic to follow. Free & open to the public. Bring your work if you’re inspired to read at the open mic. Sean Thomas Dougherty is the author of 15 books including the forthcoming The Second O A voice in Youngstown poetry for over 40 years, Terry Murcko helped Jim Villan

Student writers from YSU will read their essays selected for the publication CROW, Compose: A Review of Writing. The evening will be emceed by CROW editor and Writing Center Director Angela Messenger. Wednesday Feb. 1 at 7:00, Suzie’s Dogs & Drafts downtown. No open mic this month. Congratulations to the featured writers and their essays: Jared Lyder “The Democracy Debate” Antonina Boggia “We’ll Carry On: Welcome to the Black Parade” Lexi Rager “Under the Skin of Eating Disor

It just happens that our Dec. First Wed. reading falls on Pearl Harbor Day, so come down and get your history on with readings from some fine local history books. Wed. Dec. 7, 7:00, at Suzie’s Dogs & Drafts, 34 N. Phelps St. The reading features Cathy Seckman, author of East Liverpool; Sean Posey, author of Lost Youngstown, and Dr. Donna DeBlasio & Dr. Martha Pallante, authors of Italians Americans of the Greater Mahoning Valley. No open mic this last reading of 2016. We’ll r

With profound thanks to the Raymond J. Wean Foundation and to these twelve women in our community, we invite you to a reception cel Tuesday, December 13 at First Presbyterian Church, 201 Wick Avenue Youngstown. Parking lot is behind the church; enter on Wood Avenue due to construction on Wick. Light refreshments will be served. Doors open 6:30 pm, program and staged reading from the book, 7 pm. If you wish to support the YWCA of Youngstown’s Make A Wish Gift program, bring a