Programs

Theresa Brown worked as an oncology nurse for years before finally burning out, but instead of leaving the healthcare system behind entirely, she set out to find places where it’s actually working. This richly drawn portrait of four nurses in four different sectors of our broken healthcare system reveals where solutions are actually possible—to make care about people rather than profits.

From the minds of Andrew Swensen and Yan Pang, City of Asylum hosts an expanded showcase of “Shelter,” the story of scars carried from childhood into adulthood, how pain can distort our perception and damage our relationships, and how we find our strength through it.

Anthology contributor Lin Hierse and translator Jon Cho-Polizzi present the first-ever international anthology of contemporary writing on Berlin, presented in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh German Department’s “Germany of Campus” series.

If I asked you “What is a book for?”, you might also ask: What is a book anyway? What is reading? What is writing? What is publishing? What is a story? What is knowledge? What is language? On November 18, we will ask (but not answer) these questions and more.

Join us as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the International Poetry Forum, a local, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to spoken poetry and poetry education. Founded by Dr. Samuel Hazo in 1966, the International Poetry Forum has hosted hundreds of the world's most celebrated poets and performers in its reading series and educational outreach programs, including legends like Seamus Heaney, Gwendolyn Brooks, Mary Oliver, James Earl Jones, Grace Kelly, and many more.

Prolific author and essayist Jamaica Kincaid shares new PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay–winning collection in conversation with Anderson Tepper.