Kathleen George: Mirth

Alphabet City 40 W. North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Writer, theatre professor, and Northsider Kathleen George makes her City of Asylum debut to celebrate the launch of her new novel, Mirth.
Kathleen George is the author of ten novels: a series of thrillers set in Pittsburgh; a novel about the Johnstown Flood, The Johnstown Girls; a novel about Lena Horne and jazz, The Blues Walked In; and most recently, Mirth. Kathy has also written a collection of short stories (The Man in the Buick), edited a collection of short fiction (Pittsburgh Noir), and contributed to many scholarly theatrical books and articles. She is a professor of theatre and writing at the University of Pittsburgh.

Fadi Kattan on Food and Community

Alphabet City 40 W. North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

How powerful is food, really? Can it bring people together in times of joy and strife? What’s the role of food in diasporic communities? What stories can be told through food?
Franco-Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan ponders these topics and more in what’s sure to be an engrossing evening of contemplation, exploration, and celebration. 

Mai Khôi & The Dissidents

Alphabet City 40 W. North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

City of Asylum artist-in-residence Mai Khôi presents a concert of brand-new music composed in collaboration with Pittsburgh-based pianist Mark Micchelli. 
Khôi founded Mai Khôi and the Dissidents in Vietnam in 2017 as a vehicle to perform her genre-busting songs protesting government censorship and police violence. The band performed secretly at underground shows in Hanoi until threats from the Vietnamese government forced the band to change their name, then ultimately dissolve. Following Khôi's exile to the United States, she reformed the band with local Pittsburgh musicians while continuing the group's radical mission. 

Klenicki Meets Mingus

Alphabet City 40 W. North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

In the first of two concerts exploring the relationship between music, visual art, and mental health, City of Asylum regular Thomas Wendt pairs the music of Charles Mingus with the paintings of Norman Klenicki.

Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House: Brandon Dirden

City of Asylum @ Home

August Wilson House celebrates America’s greatest playwright with substantial insider interviews with leading August Wilson actors, directors, and artists—regional and national. Hosted and moderated by Chris Rawson, a veteran Pittsburgh Post-Gazette theater critic who chronicled Wilson’s career and became a friend. December's interview features actor and director Brandon Dirden.

Educator Workshop: Readers of the World—Promoting Youth Multilingualism

Alphabet City 40 W. North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Karin Hansson and Daniel Gustafsson from the Swedish Center for Translators invite Pittsburgh-based educators, librarians, teaching artists, and other partners to learn about Sweden's Readers of the World! project as well as share their own experiences of working with multilingual young people in Pittsburgh.