Join us for an audio tour of the Paul Laurence Dunbar House in Dayton, Ohio. Ryan Qualls, Chief of Interpretation and Site Manager, walks listeners through Dunbar’s final residence and sheds light on the life and work of this prolific, groundbreaking author. Take a step back into history to learn about Dunbar’s early friendship with the Wright brothers; how a pivotal review launched him into literary fame; his dialect poetry; controversies and praise surrounding his writing; his influence on other American authors; and, of course, the house itself, including its furnishings and appliances, along with Dunbar’s books, swagger sticks, and more. Finally, Qualls shares a musical interpretation of the poem “On the River” to showcase how Dunbar’s poetry might have been performed during his lifetime. To see images from the tour, visit our accompanying blog post.

About Dunbar

Born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, to formerly enslaved parents, Paul Laurence Dunbar would go on to become one of the first nationally recognized African American poets—and the first to support himself financially through his writing. Over the course of Dunbar’s relatively short career, he authored twelve books of poetry, four novels, four short story collections, and two Broadway plays, as well as song lyrics. He died in 1906 at the age of thirty-three from tuberculosis, though his legacy endures today. Dunbar’s work has inspired many great American authors, including Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and others.

About the Paul Laurence Dunbar House

In 1904, Dunbar’s mother, Matilda J. Dunbar, purchased a two-story brick house located at 219 N. Summit Street (since renamed N. Paul Laurence Dunbar Street) in Dayton, Ohio. The house became Dunbar’s final residence, and following his death in 1906, Matilda meticulously maintained the house and her son’s belongings. Today, the house is owned and managed by the state of Ohio, is part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, and is open to the public for free tours.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Forget actors, rock stars, and elite athletes—on Page Count, the real celebrities are librarians. Karen Henry Clark, the author of the picture book Library Girl: How Nancy Pearl Became America’s Most Celebrated Librarian, is here to discuss her friendship with Nancy Pearl, how she came to write a picture book about Pearl’s childhood, the research process, her own writing journey, librarian action figures (and controversy!), what it’s like to be an introvert tiptoeing in the spotlight, and a lot more.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Listeners, welcome to the fifth dimension. We’re joined by Dr. Kim Kiehl, Executive Director of the Ohioana Library Association, to discuss The Twilight Zone and its creator, Rod Serling. We focus on “Mirror Image,” an episode airing in Season 1 of the show’s original run, but we also talk about the series at large, Serling’s Ohio roots and his writing career, and just why The Twilight Zone remains relevant today. We also discuss cows, clowns, our own doppelgänger experiences, Ohioana’s offerings, and more.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Poet and editor Dr. Taylor Byas is here to discuss her award-winning debut poetry collection, I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times. Along the way, she shares insights into writing about place, how The Wiz serves as structural inspiration for the collection, her literary inspirations and heroes, the value of Ph.D. programs in creative writing, her editorial work at The Rumpus, the art of chapbooks, managing expectations as an author, and a lot more. She also offers listeners a special preview of Resting Bitch Face, her second full-length collection forthcoming in August 2025.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Hilary Plum discusses her new novel, State Champ, which surrounds an abortion clinic employee who goes on a hunger strike to protest her boss’s imprisonment. In this far-reaching conversation, Plum sheds light on the spontaneity of art and protest; the history of the hunger strike; the dark joys of writing a complicated, acerbic protagonist; elite athletes; eating disorders; crafting a novel’s plot (or not); small press publishing vs. the Big 5 and larger independent publishing houses; the value of MFA programs; and a lot more.  

Hilary Plum is the author of six books, including, most recently, State Champ (Bloomsbury, May 2025), an Indie Next List pick. With Zach Savich, Plum edits the Open Prose Series at Rescue Press. With Zach Peckham, she co-hosts the podcast Index for Continuance. She teaches at Cleveland State University and serves as associate director of the CSU Poetry Center.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

As part of Cleveland Public Library’s celebrations surrounding the 100th anniversary of Main Library, Page Count honors Linda Anne Eastman, the first woman to lead a large metropolitan library system in the United States. Through letters, documents, photographs, speeches, and other archival material, Cleveland Public Library Archivist Melissa Carr sheds light on Eastman’s life and work. From Eastman’s first visit to Cleveland Public Library to her fruitful working relationship with William Howard Brett, her many achievements and innovations, her unflagging work ethic, and more, Carr takes listeners on a journey back in time to bring to life an extraordinary woman whose work transformed our library, our city, and the librarian profession at large.

May 6, 2025, marks the 100th anniversary of Cleveland Public Library’s Main Library building, which Eastman worked tirelessly to help plan, design, and make a reality. The Library will host a series of events at the downtown campus on Saturday, May 10 to celebrate this milestone. Learn more about the anniversary events here. To view images of Eastman and other archival materials, visit "Celebrating Linda Anne Eastman and Main Library's 100th Anniversary."

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Next up in our Literary Screening series is the 2021 film The Tender Bar, an adaptation of J.R. Moehringer’s 2005 memoir. RW Franklin, a writer and past Lit Youngstown board member, is here to break down the film, which is a coming-of-age story of a young man finding his place in the world—and his voice as a writer. She also discusses her own writing journey, her decision to use a pen name, the value of workshops, building confidence, writing what scares you, worldbuilding, finding your community as a writer, Lit Youngstown’s offerings, and more.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Welcome to the first episode of Literary Screening, a new series that invites Page Count guests to discuss films or television shows with a literary connection. First up is American Fiction, the 2023 adaptation of Percival Everett’s novel Erasure. Laura is joined by Matt Weinkam and Michelle Smith of Literary Cleveland to consider how the film satirizes the publishing industry and academia, what it has to say about race and the depiction of Black families in film, comparisons between the book and film adaptation, and a lot more.

Literary Cleveland is a nonprofit organization and creative writing center that empowers people to explore other voices and discover their own. Learn more about the 2025 Cleveland Poetry Festival, which takes place April 25-27 with a theme of The Body Politic; the Inkubator, one of the largest free writing festivals in the country; and more, including dozens of classes and programs for writers of all levels.

Matt Weinkam is the Executive Director of Literary Cleveland. His work has been published in HAD, Denver Quarterly, Sonora Review, New South, DIAGRAM, Jellyfish Review, Split Lip, and Electric Literature. He holds an MA in creative writing from Miami University, an MFA in fiction from Northern Michigan University, and he has taught creative writing as far away as Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, China.

Michelle R. Smith is the Programming Director at Literary Cleveland, as well as a writer, poet, educator, cultural facilitator, and native Clevelander. She is the author of the poetry collections Ariel in Black (2015) and The Vagina Analogues (2020), and the creator of BLAX MUSEUM, an annual performance showcase dedicated to honoring notable Black figures in American history and culture.

Be sure to check out Michelle and Matt’s writing. And hey, give us a call if you need to revive a sentence.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Page Count’s fourth season kicks off on April 8, 2025! Listen to snippets from just a few of our upcoming episodes featuring the following guests:

Subscribe to Page Count wherever you get your podcasts to listen to these episodes and many more during our fourth season. The season—and our new Literary Screening series—debuts April 8 with an episode focusing on American Fiction with Literary Cleveland staff. A new episode of Page Count drops every two weeks, so stay tuned.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Laura and Don celebrate Page Count’s third anniversary by discussing some of their favorite episodes from Season 3, touching on everything from MacArthur geniuses to Annie Oakley, typewriters, graveyards, unicorns, bioluminescence, ghosts, Laura’s aversion to clip shows, and a lot more. They also look ahead to Season 4, which will introduce Literary Screening, a new series featuring conversations about films or TV shows with a literary connection. As always, Page Count’s upcoming season will include interviews with authors, librarians, publishing professionals, and literary organizers, along with live events, onsite audio tours, and more. Season 4 premieres April 8, 2025, with a trailer dropping March 25.

Laura Maylene Walter is Ohio Center for the Book Fellow at Cleveland Public Library, the host of Page Count, and the author of Body of Stars (Dutton). Don Boozer is the Literature Department Manager at Cleveland Public Library and the Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator.

Episodes Mentioned:

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.