First Wednesday Reader Series

First Wednesday Reader Series presents poets Sean Thomas Dougherty (Erie) and Ben Gulyas (Cleveland) on Wednesday, April 1, 2026 at 7:00 PM at Westside Bowl.

Erin Stubbs 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.

Sean Thomas Dougherty

Sean Thomas Dougherty’s books include Death Prefers the Minor Keys (BOA Editions) and The Dead are Everywhere Telling Us Things, winner of the 2021 Jacar Books Prize. His book The Second O of Sorrow won the Housatonic Book Award and was co-winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize.

Ben Gulyas

Ben Gulyas hails from South Euclid. Along the road of poetry readings over the years he has found himself at home. He keeps trying to translate poetry into something useful like seeds, birds and moon atlases. Sometimes it happens. Birds inside moons, poems inside birds, the poet somewhere in between.

Upcoming 2026 Readings at Westside Bowl

May 6 — Catherine Gammon, Abby Vandiver
June 3 — Philip Brady, Jacqueline Marino
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 Gottl Brightman, Steve Brightman