September 3: Joy Katz, one of our favorite poets, with fiction writer Tara Masih, in from Boston. Gist Street Reading Series.
Doors open at 7:15; readings begin at 8pm. James Simon's Sculpture Studio, 305 Gist Street, Uptown, the coolest poetry venue in Pittsburgh. Weather permitting, in the back yard, even more fabulous. Bring back-to-school snacks like wine and beer. And all those heaped up leftovers from your garden, like salsa! Like pesto! Antoine, we hope, will provide some of his amazing homemade ice cream, and the world will be good. And tasty. And literate.
$10 admission includes raffle of books and produce and pottery and more.
The readers' books will be available for sale.
September 10: The Minority Networking Exchange, Leslie X Smith, R Christian Littleton present Spoken Word artists Leslie "Ezra" Smith and friends. 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. at Calli's Restaurant,
7600 Forbes Avenue (at Braddock Avenue),
Pittsburgh, PA. $5.00 cover charge. Excellent food and drinks available.
September 11: Jan Beatty, Derek Green, Sheryl St. Germain,
Phil Terman, and Patricia Jabbeh Wesley. Writers in the Garden, co-sponsored by City of Asylum Pittsburgh and Autumn House Press. 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., North Side. This terrific event is sure to be oversubscribed and may already be. Free but limited to 60 people, so preregistration is necessary. TO MAKE YOUR RESERVATION send an email to lauramustio [at] gmail.com. Please include the name and e-mail of each person in your party.
Walking tour plus literary-event precedes the City of
Asylum Jazz-Poetry Concert. It is staged in five different gardens in
the Mexican War Street area, near Sampsonia Way. Small groups are led
from garden to garden. In each garden, a different writer reads a
short poem or story. And finally we gather together for a final
reading.
All authors in this year's Writers in the Gardens are published by
Autumn House Press, a nonprofit literary press based in
Pittsburgh.
City of Asylum Pittsburgh provides year-long residencies and support to writers who are persecuted or endangered in their own countries, and publishes the e-zine Sampsonia Way.
Also September 11, on the North Side,
Yusef Komunyakaa, the Oliver Lake Big Band, and City-of-Asylum-sponsored writers in exile. Jazz-Poetry concert. Sampsonia Way, North Side of PIttsburgh, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. This event can be magical, outdoors on Sampsonia Way near the Mattress Factory. Yusef Komunyakaa is a wonderful poet, nationally known. I heard him read his harrowing and compassionate poem about the blowfly in New Jersey and hope he reads it in Pittsburgh. Free!
September 21: Benefit for 5 AM,, the western-Pennsylvania-based poetry journal with a national reputation.
Hemingway's Cafe 3911 Forbes Avenue, Oakland (in the back room). 8 p.m.
$5 donation requested. In return you get a copy of 5 AM.
Subscriptions at $12 a year/or $20 for two years.
First set readers will be
Jan Beatty,
Lori Jakiela,
Dave Newman, and
Michael Wurster.
After a break, the 5 AM editors,
Ed Ochester
and
Judith Vollmer
will read.
Copies of the magazine will be available for sale.
September 28: Eileen Malone, Diane Lockward, and Arlene Weiner. Yes, your humble webmistress indulges in shameless self-promotion! and futile, too, because it's in New York City. 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
A Ragged Sky Reading.
The Path Café,
131 Christopher St. (at Hudson St.),
New York, NY.
(212) 243-1311. Free.
Some regular events:
Pittsburgh Poets Playshop. Meets first and third Wednesday of every month. Main Carnegie Library, Oakland. Large Print Room.
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m
You’ve heard of a writer’s workshop, but this is a playshop! Join local poets and writers in collaborative compositions, surrealist writing games, found poetry exercises, and much more! Come learn, compose, and have fun with writing!
Hemingway's Summer Series, a popular series, will run weekly on Tuesday evenings from May through July. Jimmy Cvetic, founder and longtime director of the Hemingway Summer Series, will host; Fred Peterson will help with sound. Joan Bauer does publicity and much more. This series takes place in the back room of Hemingway's Cafe at 3911 Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh's Oakland at 8 p.m. Free. After the featured readers there is open mic.
Regular reading series:
The Hungry Sphinx Reading Series. Tuesdays at 8 p.m. At the Sphinx Café in Oakland, Bates and Atwood Streets. (Upstairs. One nonalcholic drink minimum.) Open mic: usually two pages or two poems. For more information, Jan Beatty at beattyjp AT carlow DOT edu. [Will not meet during the summer.]
Gist Street Series.. Approximately monthly. Doors open 7:15 p.m. Readings begin at 8 p.m. At James Simon's sculpture studio, 305 Gist Street, Uptown. Well-published writers. Snacks. BYOB. Door prizes. A great space and a cool series. $10.00. (Note cost change.)
Sunday Poetry and Reading Series, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Approximately monthly. 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Quiet Reading Room, Main Library, Oakland, first floor. Free. Information: Renée or Connie.
412-622-3151.
newandfeatured@carnegielibrary.org
On the fourth Wednesday of each month, Michael Wurster leads a discussion of a poetry book in the back room of Coffee Tree Roasters, Walnut Street, Shadyside, Pittsburgh. See WORKSHOPS for details.
And don't forget Prosody, WYEP's regular Tuesday evening radio program featuring local and nationally known writers. 7 p.m.
Please see our LINKS to other sponsors of poetry events.
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