Our Big Fall Email!
Events, Interviews, Book Banning, Book Fests, Our Favorite Carnegie Library Pic, and more!
This is another big month in Littsburgh and we have a bunch of new subscribers thanks to our monthly Talk Pittsburgh Book Club segments on KDKA and from the event listings we’ve been highlighting across other local media outlets (thanks to Littsburgh’s Katie Kurtzman for that)!
If you’re new to Littsburgh, we hope you’ll click around the site and check out our calendar of literary events—we’ve been adding a ton of new events every week now that it’s fall and we have a lot of fun new excerpts and interviews in progress!
In personal news, we just found out—via a PEN American list that was published yesterday in Harper’s Bazaar (“Here Is Every Book Banned in America”)—that Nick’s first book was apparently banned in Texas.
For new subscribers, that’s the guy who answers all the Littsburgh emails and adds events to the calendar. You can read a little bit more about the banned list (and about why Nick thinks he’s on it) in his Substack.
The only other Pittsburgh author we’ve found on that list is Stephen Chbosky / Perks of Being a Wallflower—and the last we heard, he was in LA . . . but if you see any other Pittsburghers on there, let us know!
Yours in books,
The Littsburgh Crew
P.S. We’re not a non-profit—we’re just a website!—but we’re renewing all of Littsburgh’s web stuff (like the servers that keep the site running) this month, so if you’d like to help out by becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack, there should be a link for that at the bottom of this email. We also accept donations on the site . . . and whether or not you’re able to donate, we always appreciate your support!
Littsburgh on KDKA: Talk Pittsburgh Book Club - September Pick!
“Our Littsburgh book of the month for September is a romantic comedy called A Dash of Salt and Pepper. It was written by Kosoko Jackson, who focuses on highlighting LGBTQ love stories.”
See Kosoko Jackson in Conversation with Nicole Peeler…
“Lambda Literary Award winner and acclaimed author, Kosoko Jackson, explodes onto the horror scene with The Forest Demands Its Due, a chilling examination of how society perpetuates violence against marginalized teens...”
City of Asylum Hosts Pittsburgh International Literary Festival!
“City of Asylum Pittsburgh announces their third annual Pittsburgh International Literary Festival (LitFest‘23). The 16-day festival opens on Saturday, September 30 and considers themes of identity and marginalization with an emphasis on literature from around the world. City of Asylum is committed to producing literary programs that encourage cross-cultural exchange. This festival continues that work and its work to protect and celebrate freedom of creative expression.”
Q&A: Edward Banchs, author of Scream for Me, Africa!: Heavy Metal Identities in Post-Colonial Africa and Heavy Metal Africa
“I’m glad to live in such a proud literary city with so many other great writers, bookshops and book enthusiasts. It makes writing easier when you have other people to lean on. And the press that my first book got locally was an incredible surprise too!”
Pittsburghers read 71% more books this summer during Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s 2023 Summer Reading Program!
“Between June 4 and August 6, thousands of Pittsburghers logged 47,151 books of all kinds, eBooks and audiobooks (an increase of 71% from 2022). Participation figures soared 30.5 percent from 2022’s program and the number of Yinzers who read at least five books was up by almost 1,000 from last year. CLP – Sheraden saw one of the biggest boosts in the number of summer readers, with a 300% increase.”
Q&A: Victoria Diane Crall (author of Jumpy Chunky Monkey and the Very Best Day)!
“You grew up in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, where you still live…
I absolutely love Pittsburgh; it’s always been my home and where my heart lies. There’s just something about this city, a deep-rooted pride that connects us with a true sense of belonging. Our families live here as well and we knew we wanted to remain close to our support system. Pittsburgh will always be home.”
Featured Photo: Seen in the most recent Breathing Space, an excellent Pittsburgh newsletter by Virginia Montanez (who has a new book out this year)!
“You recall last week I shared a grainy screenshot of a newspaper photo of the first and only cleaning of the Carnegie Institute back in 1990. When I stumbled upon an old blog post from the Carnegie Library System that included small, low-res photos of slides showing the cleaning, I emailed them and asked how I might go about finding those slides in their archives to obtain larger photos…” (Part one—about pollution intentionally left on Pittsburgh buildings—is here, and the update featuring the above picture—courtesy of CLP staff—is here).