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The poetry of Youngstown
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
Allison Pitinii Davis grew up hearing stories of Youngstown past and the family businesses.
Her mother’s side owned a laundry in Niles. Her father’s family operated a motel at the Turnpike exit in North Lima.
Etched in her mind, those stories became the fuel for her acclaimed new book of poetry, “Line Study of a Motel Clerk” (Baobab Press).
“I grew up hearing so many stories about those businesses, and Youngstown and its history, and I integrated them into these poems,” said Davis during a phone interview from her home in Tennessee.
The poems were written over a seven-year span and form a cohesive unit as they illustrate a time and place. The words illuminate the meaing behind everyday moments, while the meter captures the rhythm of a working-class city.
Davis was born in Youngstown and is a graduate of Boardman High School. She has a master’s degree from Ohio State University and fellowships from Stanford University’s Wallace Stegner program, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, R.I., and the Severinghaus Beck Fund for Study at Vilnius Yiddish Institute.
She previously published a book of poetry titled “Poppy Seeds” (Kent State University Press, 2013), which won the Wick Poetry Chapbook Prize.
Her work has appeared in “Best American Poetry 2016.”
Davis and her husband live in Athens, Tenn., where he is a professor at Tennessee Wesleyan University, and she is an adjunct instructor. She also teaches an online class through Stanford University.
Davis will return to Ohio for poetry readings at Youngstown State University on April 12; Last Exit Books, 124 E. Main St., Kent, on April 13; and in Columbus on April 17.
Despite being Youngstown-centric, Davis’ manner of examining a changing region resonates anywhere.
“[The era of steelmaking] is in the past for my generation,” she said. “But it’s interesting to look back. Even outside the rust belt, you can see how America has changed. It is the Bible belt here, and religion is changing.”
To gain insight into her hometown’s history, Davis dug through old newspaper files, including The Vindicator, gleaning information from movie ads and other signifiers of the day.
“Four generations of my family grew up there, and I tried to incorporate history into my poems,” she said.
Her mother’s side of the family is Greek, and operated Niles Laundry. Her father’s family is Jewish and still owns and operates the North Lima Motel on state Route 7, which caters to truckers.
In fact, the cover of the book is an old photo of a sign that once stood in front of the motel. “My grandfather would buy out signs from the surrounding motels as they closed,” she explained.
While Davis never worked alone at her father’s motel, she did grow up in its sway, and some of her poems give insight into what it’s like to grow up in trucker-motel culture.
“Line Study of a Motel Clerk” has drawn praise for its power and sense of place.
In comments provided by the book’s publisher, Sherry Linkon, a former professor at YSU and the author of “Steeltown USA: Work and Memory in Youngstown,” said the collection “explores the complicated intersection among ethnicity, family, work and loss that shaped the culture of Youngstown. The language and images are specific, and while some readers may recall their own visits to the steel museum or the sounds of local bands and radio stations, these poems are not merely local. Instead, they invite us to think about the meaning of place – about how we come to be in particular places and how our lives are shaped by those who came earlier, from other places.
“These poems remind us that a sense of place is rooted in family stories, in the material spaces of small businesses and local bars, in words and memories.”