City of Asylum
Giving Voice.
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... 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... more →
Originally from Ukraine, Olena Boryshpolets has been a Writer-in-Residence at the City of Asylum Fellowship for Ukrainian Writers since 2023. Join us for a presentation of her new poem The Bride.... 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.
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.
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.
