About City of Asylum
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 dilapidated properties into homes for our programs, we anchor neighborhood economic development.
Our History
City of Asylum was founded in 2004 by Northside residents Diane Samuels and Henry Reese. Our first writer, Huang Xiang, arrived in Pittsburgh in 2004. Learn More…
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…
