First Wednesday Reader Series: Ali Black, Melissa Brookins & Dana Reeher (August 6 Westside Bowl)

First Wednesday Reader Series presents poets Ali Black of Cleveland, Melissa Brookins of Kent and Dana Reeher of Hermitage, Pa. Open mic to follow. Co-host ShoMoré Wright. Wednesday, August 6 at 7:00pm at the Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave. This reading will be downstairs in the Trophy Room, accessible only by stairs. ASL interpretation by Meagan Albani, with support from the Raymond J. Wean Foundation.

Ali Black is the author of the poetry chapbook If It Heals At All (Jacar Press, 2020) and We Look Better Alive (Burnside Review Press, 2025). Her writing has appeared in The Atticus Review, jubilat, Literary Hub, The Offing, The Adroit Journal and elsewhere. She is the co-founder of Balance Point Studios, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making, teaching, and sharing art.

Melissa Brookins is a Doctoral Student at Kent State University, with a major in Educational Leadership. Melissa has been in education for over 20 years, striving to empower others through her work in the field of culturally responsive practices. In her free time, Melissa can be found writing poetry to assist those processing and healing from grief and trauma.

Dana Reeher is the author of Code Domesticity, her first poetry collection. Her poems have appeared in Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine. She works full time as a nurse practitioner while also working as an adjunct professor at Baylor University. She has a PhD in Nursing. She also earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA. She lives in western Pennsylvania with her husband and their daughter.

Upcoming Readings:

September 3 Mary Quade & Steve Skovensky co-host Sydney Stalnecker 

October 1 Mike Dittman & Shei Sanchez co-host Carrie Zapka 

November 5 Jane Ann Fuller & Wendy McVicker co-host YSU Poetry Club 

December 3 Jason Harris & Mark Sebastian Jordan co-host David Wheeler