LOCAL

LOCAL

Contest open to poets

YOUNGSTOWN — A $1,000 grand prize is being offered in a special poetry contest sponsored by The Celestial Arts Society.

The contest is free and open to poets of any age. Fifty prizes totaling $5,000 will be awarded.

Poems of 21 lines or less on any subject and in any style will be accepted.

Entries must be received by July 31 and may be submitted by mail to: Free Poetry Contest, 7094 First st., Golden, CO 80403, or enter at www.freecontest.com.

Your name and address must appear on the page with the poem.

To receive a winners list, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your entry.

Poetry reading outdoors

YOUNGSTOWN — The Pig Iron Literary and Art Works of Pig Iron Press, 26 N. Phelps St., is inviting area residents to participate in an open poetry reading Tuesday at the AMPCO parking lot on Commerce Street, between Phelps and Hazel.

Those interested in serving as readers are asked to sign up by 7:15 p.m.; readings will begin at 7:30.

Debut novel published by former area author

LIVONIA, Mich. — “Perpetual Care,” the haunting tale of Naomi Talbot, a traveler between the parallel worlds of the living and dead, is the debut novel of Laura Beth Caldwell, a native of the Youngstown area.

The story is set in Savannah, Ga., in the year 1923, the year Naomi learns of love — a love that found its place in the hearts of two young women and would transcend death itself.

As she journeys through eight decades of self-discovery and questions love, immortality and God, Naomi learns of the dark curse that was placed on her family by long-dead slaves for sins which have not been forgotten. Protecting her family from the darkness that haunts them comes at a great price for the young woman.

Caldwell was born in Warren and graduated from Mineral Ridge High School. For information about the book and the author, visit www.laurabethcaldwell.com.

Author to present review of recent book

YOUNGSTOWN — Joel Berg, author and nationally recognized leader in hunger, will be the featured speaker at 7 p.m. Monday at the Universal Caf in First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1105 Elm St.

Berg will discuss his recent book, “All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America.”

For more information, contact Jim Converse at (330) 518-6971 or visit www.joelberg.net.

Shootout fictionalized in ‘Portage Path’

NILES — Lawren Farber, formerly of Akron, will be at Borders at the Eastwood Mall from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday for a signing of his book “Portage Path.”

The novel, a sizzling summer read, is a fictionalized account of an actual shootout that took place in a park along Portage Path in Akron during a drug deal that went bad.

NATION

Online teasers precede new Dan Brown novel

NEW YORK — The promotion for Dan Brown’s new thriller will itself be a bit of a puzzle.

Publisher Doubleday announced last week that Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” — his first novel since “The Da Vinci Code” — will be preceded by a summer-long procession of “codes, cryptic trivia, puzzles, secret history, maps, aphorisms” and other daily teasers on Facebook and Twitter.

The book, which comes out in the fall, will be set in Washington, D.C., and will feature “Da Vinci Code” protagonist Robert Langdon, again caught up in secret societies and hidden codes.

“The Da Vinci Code,” released in 2003, has more than 80 million copies in print worldwide.

“The Lost Symbol” has an announced first printing of 5 million.

Author targets nation’s top coasters, best parks

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. — Pete Trabucco takes the reader behind the scenes and presents an e-ticket ride to the country’s best amusement parks and roller coasters in his new book, “America’s Top Roller Coasters and Amusement Parks: A Guide for Those who Ride Them and Especially for Those who FEAR Them.”

Trabucco is a pilot and freelance writer. In his travels around the country — and internationally — he has acquired a peculiar habit of visiting amusement parks wherever he goes. With thousands of new gravity-defying contraptions across the nation, and more cropping up every day, roller coasters and thrill rides are the driving force behind any amusement park and — in most cases — the sole basis of that amusement park’s very existence.

Trabucco gives the reader an inside look at why this billion-dollar business attracts more than 100 million people (or 1 in 3 Americans) a year to its gates, explains what makes these ride breathtaking, and gives advice to thrill riders on where to sit and the best times to ride.

The book will be released July 28 by Tate Publishing and will be available at various locations including Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Target.

Vindicator staff/wire reports