City of Asylum
Giving Voice.
Etta Cox brings her incomparable stage presence and vocal prowess to Alphabet City to regale audiences with beloved jazz favorites and reimagined hidden gems.
Senegalese drummers Cheikh and Papa join Joe Sheehan’s Kinetic ensemble for a concert blending traditional Senegalese rhythms with modern American sounds.
Author Nina Sharma shares her debut memoir, “The Way You Make Me Feel: Love in Black and Brown,” a hilarious and moving story of her interracial relationship, told in essays.
Poet Yona Harvey and scholar Tahira J. Walker explore what it means to be a Black woman living in a city deemed most unlivable for them. The pair will discuss their respective works and the intersection of history, community, marginalization, and resistance. In conversation with Damon Young.
Zhang Yueran’s translated novel "Women, Seated" has become an undeniable hit among American audiences. But what does it take to bring Chinese literature to the US? In conversation with Anderson Tepper, editor Han Zhang and translator Jeremy Tiang will discuss the translation process and the importance of translated literature in America.
City of Asylum welcomes Deaf storytellers and poets KJ Johnstein, Val Wojton, Mj Shahen, NuNu Davis, and Lisa McBee for performances in American Sign Language (ASL) and Visual Vernacular (VV).
Award-winning writer and professor Namwali Serpell shares her new work on Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison in this reading and discussion moderated by Anderson Tepper.
City of Asylum Writer-in-Residence and celebrated Haitian poet, Bertony Louis, shares his oeuvre in conversation with fellow Haitian poet Sony Ton-Aime.
Anderson Tepper joins Pulitzer Prize–winning author Cristina Rivera Garza in a reading and discussion of a fictionalized though deeply personal retelling of her grandparents’ journey through the mining towns and cotton fields along the Mexico-US border.
Decades-long collaborative partners Alex Harding and Lucian Ban celebrate 20 years of creating together with their latest project, “DARK BLUE,” an amalgam of original pieces and improvisations informed by traditions of jazz, blues, and European chamber music.
Some secrets are meant to be kept. Others? Meant to be shared and scored in front of a live audience! Share your story this June at Story Club PGH’s Story Slam, for the chance to win prizes and storytelling glory!
It's the paperback release of Damon Young's riotous anthology, featuring work by Hanif Abdurraqib, Mahogany L. Browne, Wyatt Cenac, Kiese Laymon, Deesha Philyaw, Roy Wood Jr., Nicola Yoon, and more.
English PEN Award winner Rodrigo Hasbún and moderator Anderson Tepper dive into the secrets and shrapnel of a 20-year-old friendship ripped apart in Rodrigo’s new novel.
Legendary guitarist of over 50 years kicks off the three-part Kente Summer Madness jazz series, leading a killer quartet this summer at City of Asylum.
This Pittsburgh Performs concert, curated by Carlos Clark, features music by composers from the US, Uruguay, and Brazil, offering a vibrant vision of discovery while simultaneously reflecting on the complex history of the Americas.
Etta Cox, eight-time winner of “Best Jazz Vocalist,” brings her Broadway chops and unparalleled vocal performance to the Alphabet City stage for a night of transformed jazz favorites and fan-favorites upon request!
Booker Prize–shortlisted author Madeleine Thien discusses her latest work, a “Time” Must-Read Book of the Year.
Legendary Pittsburgh percussionist Roger Humphries honors his former bandleader and friend, composer of “Song for My Father” Horace Silver.
Don't miss this edition of City of Asylum’s On Topic series where Diana Kapp discusses her upcoming book, which publishes on September 8, 2026. Diana will be joined in conversation by Samira Rustami and Marwa Rahim, two of the women featured in the work. The Last Free Women: A Daring Escape from Afghanistan and Coming... more →
Pittsburgh's importance as a Jazz city involves many different facets and the history of the Jazz guitar is well represented here. On September 24, we will celebrate this aspect of Pittsburgh Jazz by featuring three talented, up-and-coming guitarists from the city's Jazz scene. From Barry Galbraith and Jimmy Ponder to George Benson and Joe Negri,... more →
The songwriting team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart created many masterpieces for the Great American Songbook. Vocalist Grace Elliott, one of Pittsburgh's best young singers, will present her interpretations of some of Rodgers and Hart's classic songs on October 1. Featured Musicians: Grace Elliott: vocals Joseph Seman: tenor saxophone Alton Merrell: piano Leon Boykins:... more →
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 →
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 →
Internationally acclaimed pianist Alton Merrell and trio members Jeff Grubbs and David Throckmorton present a combination lecture and performance demonstrating the legendary artist McCoy Tyner’s lasting impact on jazz.
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 →
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.
As part of our Partner Presents series, SCREENSHOT: Asian Film Festival brings the award-winning documentary "Yalla Parkour" to Alphabet City on November 2. Directed by Areeb Zuaiter, "Yalla Parkour" won the Grand Jury Prize in the International Competition at DOC NYC and was selected for the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival.
