First Reader Series: Diane Kendig & Erica Manto

First Wednesday Reader Series presents poets Diane Kendig of Canton and Erica Manto Paulson of Cincinnati, Wednesday, October 7 at 7:00pm at the Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave. 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.

Diane Kendig‘s latest books are Woman with a Fan: on María Blanchard and Prison Terms, and she co-edited the tribute anthology In the Company of Russell Atkins. Kendig led a prison writing workshop for eighteen years and now curates Cuyahoga County Public Library’s weblog Read + Write and writes for Free Poetry Cleveland.

2022 Ohio Poet of the Year for her chapbook Hunger, Erica Manto Paulson is a graduate from Bowling Green State University and holds a degree in Creative Writing and English Literature. Her poems have appeared in Thimble Literary Magazine, Sheila Na Gig, the Northern Appalachia Review, Slippery Elm, and has been featured on NPR’s “Conrad’s Corner” (WYSO).

Upcoming 2026 readings at Westside Bowl:

November 4 William Breeze, E.F. Schraeder
December 2 Theresa Gottl Brightman, Steve Brightman