Lit News

The McDonough Museum and Lit Youngstown will host two ekphrastic (art-from-art) writing workshops and a reading by workshop participants. The workshops and readings are free and open to the public, and registration is not required. Please bring a notebook, electronic device or your favorite writing tools. The writing workshops, part of the Scribe literary collaborative, will take place at the McDonough Museum of Art, 525 Wick Ave., Saturday, March 28 from 10:00 to noon and/or

Thank you to all: artists, writers, supporters, volunteers, the Soap Gallery, the Ohio Arts Council. Special appreciation to photographer Melanie Rae Buonavolonta who captured the day perfectly. Several people asked about the poem read by Lewis School student Ari Sheik. He has granted permission for his poem to be posted here. War War is a world of misery. Everything is engulfed in chaos. War bears unsparing  gunfire, pouring in from hell itself. It never ends, never rests. W

Words Made Visible is Lit Youngstown’s literary-visual art collaboration. In blind judgings, poems and prose by Ohio-affiliated writers were selected to be printed on posters, broadsides and stamped into sidewalks. Students in YSU art classes chose poems and stories and responded to them through visual art. The opening for the month-long exhibit will be Saturday, February 3, 2:00 to 5:00 at The Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St., downtown Youngstown. Refreshments will be serve

With the announcement of our Ohio Arts Council grant, seems like a good time for an update on the Words Made Visible project. But first, woop woop! and so much thank you. With public funding on the chopping block, we are grateful to Governor Kasich and the Ohio Legislature for defending the value of the arts in our communities. The panel discussion on our project was uplifting: Panelists noted that they liked the multidisciplinary nature of this proposal, that the activities

In conjunction with the 35th Annual Women Artists Show, Lit Youngstown will present a reading featuring ekphrasis, or poems and stories that respond to the visual art on exhibit. Join us at the YWCA of Youngstown, 25 W. Rayen at 6:00, to hear original work by Mari Alschuler, Kris Harrington, Arya-Francesca Jenkins & Shanon Maple. #YWCAofYoungstown #ShanonMaple #MariAlschuler #WritersCritiqueGroup #KristineHarrington #Art #AryaFrancescaJenkins #ekphrasticpoetry #ekphrasis

Ekphrasis is a literary art made after a visual art; for example, a poem inspired by a photograph. Join Nin Andrews and Karen Schubert for a workshop on writing ekphrastic poetry. We will meet at the McDonough Museum of Art on Wick Ave. and engage with the works on exhibit. No required registration, fee or experience. Please bring pen & paper. Wed. Feb. 24th, 6:00-7:30 p.m. For examples of ekphrastic poetry, visit the online journal Ekphrastic: writing and art on art and writ

“Disco” was inspired by a print in “Prayer Series” by University of Akron faculty artist Hui-Chu Ying (the top image here). Dianne wrote her poem at Ekphrastacy!, a night of writing from art at the Cleveland Heights Art Gallery. We love the phenomenal tote bag design by YSU graphic arts students. Big thanks to Green Youngstown and the Mahoning County Green Team for sponsoring the project. We are hoping to see our bag all over the Mahoning Valley, promoting the arts and reduci