Our Mission

City of Asylum builds a just community by protecting and celebrating freedom of creative expression.

We provide sanctuary to endangered writers and artists, so that they can continue to create and their voices are not silenced.

We offer a broad range of free literary, arts, and humanities programs in a community setting to build social equity through cultural exchange.

And by transforming blighted properties into homes for our programs, we anchor neighborhood economic development.

Our History

City of Asylum Exiled Writer and Artist Residency Program

We offer short and long-term residencies to persecuted writers so that they can continue to write. City of Asylum’s Writer and Artist Residency Program promotes the transformation of cultural life in Pittsburgh while advancing the field of literature worldwide. Learn more…