Local

LOCAL
Author to sign books
BOARDMAN -- A poetry reading and book signing is planned from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Starbucks Coffee Company, 1247 Boardman-Poland Road, with Ericka M. Davis, also known as Emarii, author of "The Beginning to Victory, Defeating and Overcoming the Flesh: It's Time to Go Higher in Jesus." (PublishAmerica, $16.95.)
A gospel performance poet, writer, women's speaker and early-childhood educator, Davis graduated from Cleveland State University with a bachelor's degree in education. She is married to Kevin M. Davis. They live in Youngstown.
Historical societyto host book signing
DARLINGTON, Pa. -- Wayne A. Cole will sign copies of his new book, "Ghost Rails Vol 1," from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Greersburg Academy, state Route 351. The 144-page hardback "Ghost Rails" documents the railroad and industrial history of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. It contains first-time photos, maps and other information.
Little Beaver Historical Society is sponsoring the event, which also will feature a display of the Ridings Family extensive train collection and sale items related to local history, including books, CDs and Darlington coverlets.
Gilmartin receivespoetry award
YOUNGSTOWN -- The International Library of Poetry and poetry.com awarded Thomas Gilmartin Sr. of Youngstown with its Editor's Choice Award for his poem, "The Gilmartin Creed." Gilmartin, who received his award earlier this month, is the host of "Back to Basics," which airs Sunday mornings at 11:30 on WKTX-AM 830.
Discussion group setsDecember meeting
WARREN -- The Warren-Trumbull County Public Library book discussion group will meet from 2 to 3 p.m. Dec. 8 in the board room at the Main Library, 444 Mahoning Avenue N.W. Helen Gilpin, reference librarian, will lead a discussion of the novel, "Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen By Proxy Childhood" by Julie Gregory. This memoir recounts the story of a childhood affected by Munchausen by Proxy disease, a psychological disorder in which caretakers "make an otherwise healthy child sick" as a way of gaining attention and approval.
The group is open to all who have read the featured book. Reservations are not required. For information, call (330) 399-8807, Ext. 400.
Nurse-poet to readat KSU East Liverpool
EAST LIVERPOOL -- Newton Falls poet Jeanne Bryner will discuss writing, poetry and nursing, and will read from her works from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday in the Videoconference Room of the Mary Patterson Building at Kent State University East Liverpool Campus. The event is free.
Bryner is a nurse with experience in the emergency room, in community health and with cancer survivors. A cancer survivor herself, she translates her life and work experiences into art and helps others do the same through community writing workshops. Her literary credits include two books -- "Breathless" and "Life Me Tenderly" -- and a play, "Intensive Care." She is working on another book based on interviews with Helen Albert, one of the first blacks to be admitted to a formerly all-white nursing school in the South, who eventually moved to Warren, became a head nurse and opened a nursing home.
REGIONAL
New anthology featuresselections by local poets
HURON -- The work of 100 poets -- including 20 from Ohio -- is featured in a new book edited by Larry and Ann Smith. "Family Matters: Poems of Our Families" is the third anthology in the Harmony Series from Bottom Dog Press. A grant from the Ohio Arts Council supports publication in part.
The 232-page work is a collection of poems divided into chapters each focusing on an aspect of family -- birth, children, couples, aging and dying -- to name a few. Classic poets are represented by the likes of such greats as e.e cummings, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost and William Carlos Williams, and contemporary writers -- 80 in all -- include Joy Harjo, Gary Soto and U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. Among the 20 Ohio poets with connections to the Youngstown area are William Greenway (Youngstown), Diane Gilliam Fisher (Ravenna) and Jeanne Bryne (Newton Falls).
"Family Matters" lists for $18 and is available from online booksellers. Information also is available from the publisher's Web site: http://members.aol.com/lsmithdog/bottomdog, or by calling (419) 433-3573. Group readings of the book are planned around the country, including 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Old Jail House Center in Fred Fuller Park, Kent.
Smith is professor emeritus in humanities at Firelands College at Bowling Green State University and director of Firelands Writing Center. He has penned six books of poetry and two each of fiction and literary biography, and has another book, "A River Remains: Poems" (Word Tech), due out in 2006. He also is editor-in-chief of Bottom Dog Press. Mrs. Smith, who has written several articles on family relationships in families experiencing chronic pain, is professor emerita at the Medical Univesity of Ohio in Toledo. A clinical nurse specialist in adult mental health nursing, she also provides family counseling, therapeutic touch and Reiki at various medical centers.
Combined dispatches