Free Association Reading Series: Marcel Walker, Heather Aronson, Anouar Rahmani, & Deborah Bogen

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

The Free Association Reading Series returns for this year's third installment of intimate readings. This month’s program features exceptional local writers Marcel Walker, Heather Aronson, Anouar Rahmani, and Deborah Bogen. This series is co-curated by Pat Hart and Marc Nieson. 

Celebrate Ghana Independence Day with Samuel Boateng & ADEPA Ensemble

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

Samuel Boateng returns to City of Asylum with the ADEPA ensemble to share his journey as a transnational African artist using music, visual art, film, and scholarship as his medium. ADEPA, is a multidisciplinary group of musicians who perform highlife, afrobeat, jazz, and modern African music, drawing from adowa, azonto, agbadza, funk, kete, and gospel.

A Call Away is Still Too Far, A Night of Film with Sylvia Ryerson

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

In this moving program presented in partnership with Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (PINJ), City of Asylum hosts a screening of the new work in progress Working Films & Appalshop documentary film, Calls from Home. An intimate portrait of rural prison expansion, Calls From Home documents WMMT-FM’s longstanding radio show that sends messages over the public airwaves to reach those incarcerated in Central Appalachia.

A Fierce Debut of Young Adult Afrofuturism with Moses Ose Utomi

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

In this program, Moses Ose Utomi shares his empowering debut novel, "Daughters of Oduma." This program is part of Pittsburgh Playhouse’s the Parable Path, a series of local events designed to enrich our communal experience with Octavia E. Butler’s "Parable of the Sower," a musical adaptation of Butler’s groundbreaking Afrofuturist novel created by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon.

A Vivid Night of Melody with Camila Meza Quartet

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

This program marks a stop on Chilean jazz musician Camila Meza’s month-long tour throughout the US. Camila is equally prized as a vocalist, guitarist, and composer who has uplifted audiences worldwide. She'll be presenting music from her last album and some of her new works which will become part of her upcoming record coming out fall 2023. 

International Reading Series: An Exploration of South African Literature with Zakes Mda

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

In this third installment of our International Reading Series, curated by Anderson Tepper, City of Asylum welcomes Zakes Mda. In this program Zakes and Anderson will discuss the breadth of Zakes’ work and the ways in which it reflects and relates to the shifting landscape of South African literature. 

An Homage to Geek Culture with Joseph Earl Thomas

The trials of the outcast might be a tale as old as time, but never before has there been a story quite like Joseph Earl Thomas’ memoir, "Sink." In a series of exacting and fierce vignettes, Joseph guides readers through the unceasing cruelty that defined his circumstances, laying bare the depths of his loneliness and illuminating the vital reprieve geek culture offered him.

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