Conference to deal with work, industry

YOUNGSTOWN -- Steel workers from Gary, Ind., and Baltimore whose writings are part of a new steel anthology will talk about their work and their industry at a working-class studies conference this weekend at Youngstown State University.
Sandy Dunn, a steel worker for 28 years at Bethlehem Steel Corp. in Maryland, and Gary Markley, a 25-year employee of National Steel Midwest Division in Indiana, are among 15 steel workers who contributed to "The Heat: Steelworker Lives and Legends." Contributors all live in the Gary, Ind., and Baltimore areas.
Dunn and Markley will share the stage with novelist and poet Jimmy Santiago Baca to discuss "The Heat" from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center.
Developing literature: Baca led a series of creative writing workshops sponsored by the Institute for Career Development in Merrillville, Ind., for steel workers. This led to the writing of the anthology of short stories and poems focused on the steel industry.
Sponsored by YSU's Center for Working-Class Studies, the fifth biennial working-class study conference began Wednesday and ends Saturday.
"Working Class Studies: Memory, Community and Activism" has more than 250 scholars, workers, students and activists attending from 33 states and seven countries.
The conference features a photographic exhibition by Russ Marshall, "This Working Life," which is on display through July 9 at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor. A reception and poetry reading in conjunction with the exhibit is set for 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. today.