The Latest From Literary Pittsburgh.
We decided to turn off our computers and take a little week-long vacation… and when we signed back in again, we had about a hundred new events to add to Littsburgh’s literary calendar! Scroll down to see those and more, including:
Poems! Jazz Poetry Month! Books Set in Pittsburgh! Q&As!
Yours in books,
Rachel, Nick, and KatieThe Littsburgh Crew
P.S. If you’re a New York Times subscriber or Instagram friends with Nick, you might have seen his letter to the editor last Sunday (about “books for boys” vs. books for kids). If not, you can check it out here!
Announcing Jazz Poetry Month 2021!City of Asylum Pittsburgh announces the 17th annual Jazz Poetry Month, consisting of nine concerts throughout September, including four international commissions.
Start Reading Panic Attack (set in Pittsburgh!) by Dennis Palumbo…Formerly a Hollywood screenwriter (of My Favorite Year, Welcome Back, Kotter, and more), Dennis Palumbo is a licensed psychotherapist and author. His series of mystery thrillers (Mirror Image, Fever Dream, Night Terrors, Phantom Limb, Head Wounds, and the latest — excerpted here — Panic Attack) all feature Daniel Rinaldi, a psychologist and trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh Police.
Three Poems from Gun/Shy by Jim Daniels….
“Poet laureate of my neighborhood / until I took out garbage on the wrong day.”
The poems in Gun/Shy deal with the emotional weight of making do. Tinged with both the regrets and wisdom of aging, Jim Daniels’s poems measure the wages of love in a changing world with its vanishing currency.
Q&A: Dennis Roth (author of The Bastard’s Inheritance)
“In the 1970s, in western Pennsylvania, a multi-millionaire’s singularly selfish decision destines his two sons, half-brothers, to wage war in a winner-take-all battle for the family legacy…”
Pittsburgh is a Book Lover’s Dream City!
“Today I’m talking about Pittsburgh’s amazing literary scene and my experience living here for almost a decade!”
Start Reading Fables of the Deconstruction by Damian Dressick…
“Living in Pittsburgh, and truth be told at loose ends since the blue jays, how could we expect to hold off wave after wave of crazed, violent buccaneers questing for booty?”
Start Reading The Dead Are Resting by Local Author Julie Tulba…
“Julie Tulba is a librarian and the author of two historical fiction novels, both of which are set in Pittsburgh…”
August 27, 2021: Storytime in Schenley Plaza - August 27 @ Schenley Plaza More information
August 27, 2021: Lit Fridays: Dustin Pearson @ Online More information
August 31, 2021: Toddler Musical Story Time is back! @ Riverstone Books – McCandless More information
August 31, 2021: After Happy Hour Review - Babble under the Bridge @ Schenley Park More information
August 31, 2021: Steel City Slam Open Mic & Hang via Zoom @ Online More information
September 1, 2021: Judith R. Robinson Exhibition - Square Cafe @ Square Cafe More information
September 1, 2021: Penguin Bookshop Writers Series: A Conversation with Mike Gayle & Ruth Hogan @ Online More information
September 5, 2021: The Poetry Atelier @ The Space Upstairs More information
September 7, 2021: Penguin Bookshop Writers Series: A Conversation with Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström & Jayne Allen @ Online More information
September 7, 2021: Book Launch for the Whole Family! “The Midnight Brigade” by Adam Borba (w/ Brad Montague) @ Online More information
September 8, 2021: Poetry Reading: Gabriella R. Tallmadge, Madeleine Barnes, Michelle Maher @ Online More information
September 9, 2021: Outdoor All Ages Storytime @ Brentwood Library @ Brentwood Public Library More information
September 9, 2021: Poetry Reading: Mathias Svalina w/ Yona Harvey @ The Irma Freeman Center for Imagination @ The Irma Freeman Center for Imagination More information
September 9, 2021: Penguin Bookshop Writers Series: A Conversation with Meredith Hall @ Online More information
September 10, 2021: Storytime in Schenley Plaza - September 10 @ Schenley Plaza More information
September 10, 2021: Poetry Book Launch! “I Was a Bell” by M. Soledad Caballero w/ Gainey, Williams-Devereux, Barnett (In-Person and Online) @ White Whale Bookstore More information
September 11, 2021: 5-Week Writing Workshop: Following the Thread w/ Cameron Barnett @ Online More information
September 11, 2021: Book Signing: Gloria Reuben, author of ‘My Brothers’ Keeper’ @ Riverstone – Squirrel Hill More information
September 12, 2021: City of Asylum’s Jazz Poetry Month 2021! @ Online More information
September 15, 2021: Comfy Cozy BookTalks @ Robinson Township Library More information
September 16, 2021: Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures: Joy Harjo (Poets Aloud) @ Online More information
September 16, 2021: Outdoor All Ages Storytime @ Brentwood Library @ Brentwood Public Library More information
September 17, 2021: Storytime in Schenley Plaza - September 17 @ Schenley Plaza More information
September 18, 2021: Parsec Monthly Meeting @ Online More information
September 22, 2021: Comfy Cozy BookTalks @ Robinson Township Library More information
September 22, 2021: Local Poet Michelle Maher at Riverstone Books, McCandless Crossing @ Riverstone Books – McCandless More information
September 23, 2021: Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures: Tom Rea, author of Bone Wars: The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie’s Dinosaur (Made Local) @ Online More information
September 23, 2021: Outdoor All Ages Storytime @ Brentwood Library @ Brentwood Public Library More information
September 23, 2021: Deanna Witkowski on her new biography of jazz artist Mary Lou Williams @ Riverstone – Squirrel Hill More information
September 23, 2021: An Evening with Kristin Hannah in Conversation with Christina Baker Kline! @ Online More information
September 23, 2021: Poetry Book Launch! “Musth,” Ashwini Bhasi w/ I.S. Jones, Jason B. Crawford, and Joumana Altallal @ Online More information
September 24, 2021: Storytime in Schenley Plaza - September 24 @ Schenley Plaza More information
September 28, 2021: Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures: Brian Primack (Made Local) @ Online More information
September 28, 2021: Gayle Rogers on his new cultural history, SPECULATION, in conversation with Baruch Fischhoff @ Riverstone – Squirrel Hill More information
September 30, 2021: Outdoor All Ages Storytime @ Brentwood Library @ Brentwood Public Library More information
September 30, 2021: Reading & Book Talk: “Foucault In Warsaw,” Remigiusz Ryziński & Sean Gasper Bye @ Online More information
September 30, 2021: Local Poets Joan E. Bauer, Gail Langstroth, & Nina Padolf @ Riverstone – Squirrel Hill More information
October 1, 2021: Book Launch! “Sheets: Collector’s Edition” by Brenna Thummler (w/ Rachael Lippincott & Kelsey Ford) @ Online More information
October 3, 2021: The Poetry Atelier @ The Space Upstairs More information
October 6, 2021: Air and Nothingness Press authors Brandon Ketchum and Jamie Lackey at Riverstone Books - Squirrel Hill @ Riverstone – Squirrel Hill More information
October 12, 2021: Reading & Conversation: “Gumbo Ya Ya” by Aurielle Marie (w/ Deesha Philyaw) @ Online More information
October 14, 2021: Poetry Reading: “origin story” by Gary Jackson (w/ Esther Lee & Yona Harvey) @ Online More information
October 16, 2021: Parsec Monthly Meeting @ Online More information
October 17, 2021: Haunted Pittsburgh (with Tom White, author of Forgotten Tales of Pittsburgh) @ Lauri Ann West Community Center More information
October 20, 2021: Comfy Cozy BookTalks @ Robinson Township Library More information
October 26, 2021: Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures: Mark Oppenheimer, author of Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood (Made Local) @ Online More information
November 7, 2021: The Poetry Atelier @ The Space Upstairs More information
November 17, 2021: STEEL City SLAM Hybrid Event (online & in person) @ The PA Market More information
November 20, 2021: Parsec Monthly Meeting @ Online More information
November 30, 2021: Call for Poetry Submissions: A Critique of the Gods! (Deadline: Nov. 30) @ Online More information
December 5, 2021: The Poetry Atelier @ The Space Upstairs More information
December 11, 2021: Literature and Catholic Imagination @ Brother Andre’s Cafe More information
February 6, 2022: The Poetry Atelier @ The Space Upstairs More information