PGHwrites: Almost Perfect Press Presents “What a Book is For”
November 8 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST
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.
In partnership with Almost Perfect Press, City of Asylum presents “What a Book is For”—an hour-long reading/performance/game show/panel talk exploring what a book is and can be, from the perspective of writers, readers, publishers, distributors, and performers. The event will be moderated by Jenna Peng and will feature writers Dani Lamorte, Emma Honcharski, and Almost Perfect Press owner Brent Nakamoto.
The program is accompanied by a new chapbook from Almost Perfect Press, featuring writing and images from all of the presenters. The book will be available for sale or attendees can bind their own copy at a hands-on workshop following the program.
About the Artists:
Brent Nakamoto is a Queer, Japanese-American, and Buddhist artist with a background in painting and drawing, printmaking, photography, and book arts. He currently lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA. He is the Program and Marketing Coordinator for Brew House Arts, where he manages the Distillery Emerging Artist Residency. He has taught at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Community College of Allegheny County, and has facilitated workshops at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Contemporary Craft (PA), Poster House (NY), and Peter’s Valley School of Craft (NJ). He has shown work nationally and internationally, including in California, Saint Louis, New York, Pittsburgh, Helsinki, and Kolkata, and his work is included in the University of Maryland Art Gallery permanent collection. In 2022, he curated “Plain Silk, Uncarved Wood,” an exhibition of eight Asian-American artists living in Pittsburgh, and in 2026 he curated “Stuck in Saṃsāra,” an exhibition exploring themes from the Lotus Sutra. His critique of the 58th Carnegie International was published by Bunker Review in 2023. He is the owner and operator of Almost Perfect Press, a curatorial and publishing project specializing in hand-bound, small-batch publications featuring emerging writers and artists.
Dani Lamorte is a Pittsburgh-based artist who writes, performs, and makes photographic images. His first book, Nobody’s Psychic, was published by the University Press of Kentucky in fall 2025.
Emma Honcharski is an artist, writer, and creative strategist in Pittsburgh, PA. Motivated by bringing people together to experience delight, she is a co-founder and co-director of the Pittsburgh Art Book Fair. Before receiving her MBA and MA in Food Studies from Chatham University, she co-founded and collaboratively published Dinner Bell Mag, a food writing and art publication, from 2019 to 2023. In 2025, she was named in Pittsburgh City Paper’s People of the Year. She currently serves on the board of Diamond Beach’s Brilliant Float Club, cultivating community on the Allegheny River.
About the Moderator:
Jenna Peng writes poetry and criticism, often both at the same time. Her writing circles otherness, closeness, and aloneness, compelled-repelled by the kinds of things we do to-for each other. She indulges in writing about writing, thinking about thinking, not knowing about knowing, and is in search of a Center for Stray Thought. As part of the collective Jenn E. Zhang (with other half Elina Zhang), she co-curates Read-Shifting Web, an Asian diasporic reading room, and co-teaches Anti-Ante-Auntie-Seminars, writing workshops in response to art shows. Across her practices, she is intent on learning how to play well with others.
About your Visit:
The in-house restaurant, Cucina Alfabeto, is open for brunch from 9:30 to 2 p.m. and for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Please visit OpenTable or call 412-435-1111 to make a reservation.
