OHIO CONNECTION: Birth and Resident Cleveland and Shaker Heights Since childhood, Cleveland native and freelance writer Patricia Averbach (“a born teller of stories”) was driven to introspection, to observing, and to sharing her thoughts with others. Before learning to write, she verbalized her narratives to her grandmother who lovingly wrote them down for Averbach to …
Read More Patricia AverbachOHIO CONNECTION: Resident Kinsman Born in Los Angeles, California, on December 7, 1915, writer Leigh Brackett, the beloved “Queen of Space Opera,” was the only child of William Franklin (an accountant) and Margaret Brackett (née Douglass). Through the distaff side, she was of Scotch, Mohawk and Sioux descent. Franklin’s death during the 1918 Pandemic necessitated …
Read More Leigh Douglass BrackettBORN: 1971 OHIO CONNECTION: Resident Oberlin Born in London on April 5, 1971, to Muslim immigrants of Indian, Iranian, and Egyptian descent (political refugees from India), Kazim Ali became fascinated with poetry from his father’s eloquent readings from the Qur’an. After a residency in Jenpeg, Manitoba, between 1975 and 1979, Ali’s family relocated to Buffalo, New …
Read More Kazim AliJournalist, war correspondent, and founder of the Cleveland Folk Arts Association, Theodore Andrica was the Cleveland Press Ethnic (Nationalities) Editor from 1927 to 1973. Born in the Romanian village of Radna on August 9, 1900, Andrica was nineteen years old when he emigrated to the United States in 1920. In the spring of 1927, Andrica …
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Looking for something fun and different to do during the cold dark of winter? Join us to talk about comics! Come grab a beverage of your choice and pull up a seat to discuss a different graphic novel on the first Thursday of each month at Bookhouse Brewing at 1526 W. 25th St., Cleveland, OH …
Read More Get Graphic! Graphic Novel Book Club: Winter 2022-2023
Mark your calendars! We hope to see you at one of our many events! Check out the inspirational, educational, and motivational workshops and get-togethers in support of National Novel Writing Month this season both in-person and online. Registration is not required for programs unless otherwise noted. For full details and times, just scroll down, contact …
Read More Fall Programs with the Ohio Center for the Book
The Ohio Center for the Book, in collaboration with Cleveland State University and Celebrating Cleveland’s Past Masters*, are honoring the life and legacy of Harlan Ellison: speculative fiction author, screenwriter, social critic, and self-described “troublemaker, malcontent, desperado” on Saturday, Sept. 17, 1:00 pm at Cleveland Public Library’s Louis Stokes Wing, 2nd floor, 525 Superior Avenue …
Read More Troublemaker, Malcontent, Desperado: A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Harlan Ellison
The Library of Congress wants this year’s National Book Festival held in Washington, DC, on Saturday, September 3, to be truly National — and would love your help in making this happen in our state. As a state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book, the Ohio Center for the Book is …
Read More Bring the National Book Festival to Ohio!
On July 13, the Ohioana Library and the State Library of Ohio, in collaboration with the Ohio Center for the Book and Choose to Read Ohio advisory council members, hosted a reception of recent Floyd’s Pick Book Award winners and honorees at the State Library of Ohio in Columbus. Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator …
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A selection of novelists, poets, and essayists to explore as we commemorate Juneteenth… Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) was the one of the first Black women to be published in the United States with her Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, published in 1854. See a selection of her poems at The Poetry Foundation. Langston Hughes (1901-1967), …
Read More Celebrate Juneteenth