Youngstown writer awarded recipient of Literary Cleveland’s Breakthrough Residency

Youngstown fiction writer, Dante DelBene, has been announced as a recipient of Literary Cleveland’s Breakthrough Writing Residency for 2024-2025.

The opportunity was made possible through a Lit Youngstown partnership with Literary Cleveland and funding from the Board of Mahoning County Commissioners under Assistance Listing No. 21.027 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

DelBene is a writer and cinematographer from Youngstown. His professional writing experience includes ad copy and commercial scripts for regional and national brands, as well as a byline in Hypefresh, a news and pop-culture magazine out of Philadelphia.

His short fiction has been published in SLAB, Olney Magazine, HASH Journal, RedCoyote, Volney Road Review, and Stoneboat.

His career in the production industry inspired a novel about a filmmaker who stumbles upon a humanitarian tragedy that pulls the curtain on content creation.

Literary Cleveland’s Breakthrough Writing Residency provides free yearlong mentorship, support, and opportunities to help emerging writers in Greater Cleveland develop a book-length project.

The program is intended for those who demonstrate a passion for writing and a commitment to developing a book-length manuscript but who have not published a book or attended an MFA program.