Programs

Join Cristina Modreanu for a conversation on her book Performing Womanhood in Eastern Europe: The Other White Woman as it approaches its first anniversary. Performing Womanhood in Eastern Europe explores a distinctive form of womanhood that emerged in post-World War II Eastern Europe, offering an alternative to Western typologies. You can purchase a copy of Performing Womanhood in Eastern Europe at the City... more →

Strega Prize–winning novelist Andrea Bajani explores the aftermath of an abusive marriage, the son who bore witness to it, and his liberating decision to leave those family connections behind.

The award-winning author of “If They Come For Us” uses their sophomore collection of meditative poems to pursue the question: Exiled from ancestral homelands, how can one find a place for themself in the world?

Guatemalan author Eduardo Halfon, a recipient of the Guatemala National Prize in Literature, presents a novel of memory, violence, connection, estrangement, and the long-term impact of individual and collective trauma.

Ocean Vuong. Photo Courtesy: Yona Harvey. Join Khirsten Scott for a conversation with Yona Harvey on her upcoming collection Leap & Grow Feathers, which publishes on September 15, 2026. Both an instruction and a divination, Leap & Grow Feathers is an extraordinary transmission. In her third full-length collection, Yona Harvey listens—to her predecessors, her instincts, and her environment—gleaning sense from the static... more →

South African Poet Laureate and celebrated author Mongane Wally Serote discusses his literary oeuvre and commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Soweto rebellion.

Pittsburgh-based poet grace (ge) gilbert shares their hybrid form, debut full-length poetry collection exploring the murder of their grandmother in 1976 and the ripple-effect this loss had on their family.

Photo Credit: Phelia Barouh. Photo Courtesy: WW Norton From the International Booker Prize–winning Georgi Gospodinov comes a volume of his finest short stories gathered over three decades. Exhibiting a world-renowned author at his most playful and profound, The Man with Many Names captures the peculiarities of existence across forty tales set in and around his beloved Bulgaria, in and... more →

Photo Credit: Leonor Grave. Photo Courtesy: Simon and Schuster. From Pulitzer and National Book Award finalist Anand Gopal comes Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Ordinary People Forging a Revolution, an epic and enthralling account of six Syrians fighting for a better world, in the tradition of classic works by Philip Gourevitch and Katherine Boo. Anand Gopal... more →

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Raj Panjabi When crisis hits—a sudden illness, a global disruption, or a career upheaval—our instinct is to retreat. Yet decades of research prove that our greatest protection isn’t isolation, it’s connection. From high-stakes decisions in the White House Situation Room and hospital emergency room to dramatic shocks of violence and illness his family... more →

City of Asylum presents the premiere of the musical-poetic performance Bride. "Writing the poem Bride was a logical continuation of exploration of the feminine principle, the role of the modern woman in society, her strength and powerlessness, and her potential spheres of influence on the world’s disheartening events. The poem Bride will allow the reader to see the world through the... more →

One of America’s foremost poets, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, author of 13 books of poetry and winner of the Bollingen Prize for Poetry, visits Alphabet City, in conversation with the director of Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series.

Photo Credit: Jeff Swensen 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... more →

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.

Photo Courtesy: Joel Dias-Porter 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,... 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.