City of Asylum
Giving Voice.
Dimitris Lyacos, a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, brings his trademark genre-defying flair to Alphabet City in this combination reading and musical collaboration celebrating his literary oeuvre and writing process.
Bassist and composer Anton DeFade celebrates the release of his latest single and its accompanying cassette tape at Alphabet City, joined by quintet members JD Chaisson, Evan David, Jacob Pleakis, and Brian Wolfe.
Celebrate the launch of Sony Ton-Aime’s debut poetry collection, a masterwork in imagining an alternative future, navigating our present, and finding language for our common past.
Writer-in-Residence Volodymyr Rafeyenko’s latest work comes to life in this staged reading and discussion of “Signals of Being,” a three-act play depicting the tensions of a country at war and the critical bonds formed among community.
Dan Meunier, Chantal Joseph, Greg Lutz, Paul Thompson, and Subha Das bring the sounds of Trinidad and Tobago to the Pittsburgh music scene in an exciting concert where steel drums are the star of the show.
Hugo Cruz and the Caminos honor the music of home, past and present, in this tribute to highly influential Pittsburgh jazz musician Art Blakey, infusing seven of his classic compositions with the sounds of Cuban styles.
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.
Vocalist and composer AurallaurA (Laura Chu Wiens) launches her sophomore album, "The Critique of Capital: An Engaging Revue," a confident, cabaret-like romp through jazz, world music, and other genres.
Pat Hart and Marc Nieson’s Free Association Reading Series continues this March with four regional writers sharing new and in-progress works.
Lynn Speakman and Evan David go head-to-head and saxophone-to-saxophone in this dynamic alto and tenor sax duo showcase, accompanied by Joe Sheehan, Jeff Grubbs, and Thomas Wendt.
Award-winning author of “Chlorine” and Pittsburgh native Jade Song returns to City of Asylum for the launch of her sophomore novel, a macabre and deeply original coming-of-age work navigating the meaning of life and the inevitability of death.
Pittsburgh guitarist John Shannon and trio members Cliff Barnes and James Johnson III celebrate the vinyl release of John’s debut full-length jazz album, which features original music inspired by the landscapes of Tarifa, Spain, and Pittsburgh.
Pat Hart and Marc Nieson’s Free Association Reading Series continues this April with four regional writers sharing new and in-progress works.
Grab a friend and head to Alphabet City this spring for a FREE screening, presented in partnership with one of the oldest LGBTQ+ film festivals in the world.
Six-time Jazz Poetry Month headliner James Brandon Lewis takes to the stage with his punk-jazz fusion band, the Messthetics, to herald in another month of poetry and improvisational jazz collaboration at City of Asylum.
Our On Topic series continues this season with a moderated discussion among free speech experts, who will get into the weeds of current controversies and the role free expression plays in maintaining a democratic government.
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.
