First Wednesday Reader Series presents fiction writer Karen Kotrba and nonfiction writer Thomas Welsh. Regina Rees will co-host. Open mic to follow. Wednesday, March 6, at 7:00pm at the Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave. This reading will be upstairs on the main stage, which is fully accessible.
Karen Kotrba is the author of Pottery Town Blues, stories set in East Liverpool, and She Who is Like a Mare, poems about the midwives of Kentucky’s Frontier Nursing Service. She has completed a poetic sequence about America’s first female presidential candidate (and Gilded Age wild woman), Victoria Woodhull.
Thomas Welsh, Ph.D., is a writer, editor, and educator. He has authored four popular historical narratives: Strouss’: Youngstown’s Dependable Store (History Press, 2012), Classic Restaurants of Youngstown (History Press, 2014), A History of Jewish Youngstown and the Steel Valley (History Press, 2017), and The Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown: Serving the Mahoning Valley Since 1874 (History Press, 2024).
This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by funds awarded to the Board of Mahoning County Commissioners under Assistance Listing No. 21.027 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Upcoming Readings at Westside Bowl
April 3 Adam Brodsky & Liz Hill, co-host Eric Harper
May 1 Sarah Dravec & Mary Biddinger, co-host Marissa McCabe
June 5 Isaiah Hunt & Hilary Plum, co-host Logan Burroughs
July 10 Stephanie Kendrick, Angel James & Mark Webb, co-host Mitch James
August 7 Alex Puncekar & Marie Vibbert co-host Tina Banks