First Wednesday Reader Series: Philip Brady & Jacqueline Marino (June 3 Westside Bowl)

First Wednesday Reader Series presents Youngstown poet Philip Brady & journalism professor Jacqueline Marino on Wednesday, June 3 at 7:00pm at the Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave. Michele Gatts will co-host with an open mic to follow. This reading will be downstairs in the Trophy Room, accessible only by stairs. Meagan Albani will provide ASL interpretation. The First Wednesday Reader Series receives support from POP! Art Books Culture.

Philip Brady is the author of five collections of poetry, recipient of numerous awards including the Ohioana Poetry Award, The Ohio Governor’s Award and six Individual Artists Fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council, a Best of Ohio Writers Contest Prizes, a Newhouse Award and a Thayer Fellowship in the Arts from New York State. He is professor emeritus at Youngstown State University and co-founder and Executive Director of Etruscan Press.

Jacqueline Marino has been published by The Washington Post, Bicycling, Belt, River Teeth, and Cleveland Magazine. She is the editor of Carbombs to Cookie Tables, an anthology about her hometown, Youngstown. She won Edward R. Murrow Awards for her Ideastream Public Media coverage on rural health and on the Mahoning River. She teaches at Kent State University’s School of Media and Journalism.

2026 Readings at Westside Bowl

July 1 Meredith Doench & Erin Flanagan

August 5 Becca J.R. Lachman, Renée Nicholson & Rebecca Moon Ruark 

September 2 Nancy Krygowski & Jane McCafferty

October 7 Diane Kendig & Erica Manto Paulson

November 4 William Breeze & E.F. Schraeder

December 2 Theresa Göttl Brightman & Steve Brightman