"A Deep Love For Pittsburgh," Book & Poetry Fests, New Pittsburgh Poetry Magazine, Q&As with Pittsburgh Authors, A Return to Squirrel Hill, Big News from Write Pittsburgh, Picture Books & More!
Also, a bunch of new events in the event calendar :)
This newsletter is another BIG one . . . be sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom if you haven’t already seen City Books’ video of their trip to Book Country in McKeesport (so cool).
We’re also always adding events to Littsburgh’s event calendar, like our most recent listings: “Live/Ability and Well-Being: A National Disability Awareness Month Reading” (from the Pittsburgh Live/Ability anthology) and the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival, which is this weekend . . . and there are just a ton of fun book launches and poetry slams and events featuring local and visiting authors that are coming up this spring and summer.
So if you haven’t visited the site lately, check us out!
Yours in books,
The Littsburgh Crew
Q&A: Idra Novey (Take What You Need) - Set in Western PA
“Parts of my family have lived in western Pennsylvania for over a century. I grew up in Johnstown and return often. Pittsburgh was a cherished place for me in childhood. I had a best friend in Squirrel Hill and would take the train to come and see her in high school as often as I could. I loved going to Pittsburgh bookstores and stopping for bagels and other foods that weren’t available in Johnstown. I have a deep love for Pittsburgh and did a residency at City of Asylum at one point in order to revisit all my favorite Pittsburgh spots…”
The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books is Back Again in East Liberty!
“The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books is back again this year in East Liberty! This year’s event will be held on May 13 on the campus of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with the plans of offering expanded programming, more authors and poets, and an improved experience for all in attendance thanks to its larger, single-campus venue…”
Q&A: Jessica Whipple (author of Enough Is… and I Think I Think a Lot)
“Back then, picture books were called ‘story books,’ and the whole purpose of illustration was simply to picture the action described in text. But now, there’s interplay between art and text, layered story, subtext, nuance… And picture books have figured out how to tackle really hard things…”
Jessica will be launching her new book at Penguin Bookshop on Saturday, April 22nd from 12pm-2pm!
The James Wright Poetry Festival is returning to its home in Martins Ferry, Ohio!
This just in from Robert Hoover: “The James Wright Poetry Festival is returning to its home in Martins Ferry, Ohio, birthplace of the prize-winning poet, April 29.
Started in 1981, a year after Wright’s death, the festival drew dozens of major poets and writers and hundreds of poetry lovers to the Ohio River town until state funding cuts shut the event down in 2008.
Pennsylvania-based poets David Swerdlow and Philip Terman, with help from David Newman of the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, have brought the festival back to life with a grant from the Ohio Arts Council.”
Write Pittsburgh Says a Fond Farewell to Vivian Lee Croft...
“This month marks the end of Vivian Lee Croft’s tenure as the executive director of Write Pittsburgh. Croft, who founded the organization, has grown it into a thriving writing nonprofit serving teen and adult writers in Pittsburgh, Southwestern PA, and beyond…”
Spotlight: Potted Prose Magazine Launch and Kickstarter!
We just learned about this Poetry Month Kickstarter for Potted Prose Magazine, whose “mission is to showcase the best of Pittsburgh’s local poets, with a particular emphasis on uplifting the voices of black writers who are often underrepresented in mainstream literary publications.”
Start Reading Return to Squirrel Hill: A Memoir by Howie Gordon…
“I used to think that Forbes & Murray was the center of the world. The intersection where the avenues Forbes & Murray crossed each other was the unofficial capital of Squirrel Hill, a predominantly Jewish community in the middle of 20th Century Pittsburgh…”
Q&A: Ken Kaszak (“Anatomy of a Movie”)
“Anatomy of a Movie is a free local series in which Ken Kaszak ‘shows a well made (but sometimes not well-known) film to give insight into how the writer conveys some of the 27 items involved in screenwriting…’”
Video: City Books visits Book Country in McKeesport, PA!
You can watch and share this on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
We’ve run out of space in this newsletter (again!) but if you’re still reading… here’s a little bit more from your friends at Littsburgh :)
Thanks to everyone who’s read this far for reading (and liking and sharing) and helping us spread the word about Literary Pittsburgh!