City of Asylum
Giving Voice.
This reading features nine of the poets from the Keystone Poetry anthology’s “The Allegheny Highlands” and “Three Rivers and Old Mills” sections sharing their poems about Pennsylvania, for Pennsylvanians.
Writer-in-Residence Mukhtar Shehata shares newly written work and reflects on his time in Pittsburgh.
Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer Godwin Louis takes to the stage for Kente Summer Madness Part 3.
A life laid bare, a wandering search for meaning, an immersive portal into history and its accompanying reverberations. All this and more can be found in Aatish Taseer’s "A Return to Self: Excursions in Exile."
A film screening and panel discussion on how housing instability prevents children from receiving a formal education with filmmaker Jose Muniain, photographer Richard Sharum, and community health worker John Whigham.
Welcome an all-star lineup of some of Pittsburgh's best musicians, fusing classic jazz compositions with the Cuban drum tradition.
Etta Cox brings her incomparable stage presence and vocal prowess to Alphabet City to regale audiences with beloved jazz favorites and reimagined hidden gems.
This second installment of our On Topic series welcomes esteemed legal scholar Michelle Adams to explore class and race in a discussion of her new book, "The Containment: Detroit, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for Racial Justice in the North."
Whether it’s all about the destination, or all about the journey and what you built along the way, this August, Story Club Pittsburgh is all about connection.
Pittsburgh-based Latin jazz quintet and DC-based vibraphonist Chris Barrick honor a titan of Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz.
City of Asylum Writer-in-Residence Volodymyr Rafeyenko discusses three of his works with his translator Mark Andryczyk, exploring the process of translation and the relationship between writer and translator.
Senegalese drummers Cheikh and Papa join Joe Sheehan’s Kinetic ensemble for a concert blending traditional Senegalese rhythms with modern American sounds.
Jevon Rushton shares his world, where rhythm becomes touch, melody becomes color, and every note tells a story in the final Kente Summer Madness concert of the summer.
Author Nina Sharma shares her debut memoir, “The Way You Make Me Feel: Love in Black and Brown,” a hilarious and moving story of her interracial relationship, told in essays.
A film screening curated by Writer-in-Residence Rania Mamoun, highlighting filmmaker Reem Alghazzi’s feature-length creative documentary following the story of nine Syrian women’s escape from war.
A discussion and performance from master pianist Theron Brown, in conversation with Grammy Award–winning producer Kamau Kenyatta, on his expertly blended gospel and jazz album, "Spirit Fruit."
Praised as a “gripping…lush and suspenseful summer read” (Al Dìa) with echoes of the pop culture phenomenon The White Lotus (Crime Reads), "The Grand Paloma Resort" grabs readers and refuses to let go.
Drummer Hugo Cruz shines a spotlight on percussion with vocalist Chantal Joseph and an all-star lineup of local musicians to fuse traditional Cuban drums with classic jazz compositions.
Tony Campbell, Victor Garzotto, Dwayne Dolphin, and Roger Humphries pay tribute to legendary saxophonists Richie Cole and Eric Kloss in the final Thursday Night Jazz concert of the summer.
Be it a physical weight or an emotional strain, we’ve all felt the pressure from time to time. This September, come ready to share (or judge!) stories tackling the Story Slam theme of Under Pressure.
City of Asylum hosts a film screening of global shorts as part of Reel Q’s 40th Annual Film Festival (the longest-running festival in Pittsburgh!)
Try though we might to plan for the future, something always comes up that we just didn’t see coming. This October, come ready to share (or judge!) stories tackling the Story Slam theme of The Unexpected.
Jazz Legacy Fellow and Pittsburgh legend Roger Humphries takes to the stage with the RH Factor for a collaborative, community-driven performance highlighting the true spirit of jazz.
Poet Yona Harvey and scholar Tahira J. Walker explore what it means to be a Black woman living in a city deemed most unlivable for them. The pair will discuss their respective works and the intersection of history, community, marginalization, and resistance. In conversation with Damon Young.
What are we missing when we limit the literary canon to American works? In this reading and discussion, City of Asylum Writers-in-Residence share the books and writers from their home countries—Algeria, Egypt, Haiti, and Ukraine—that made an impact on their respective literary scenes and that all US readers should add to their lists.
Poets Aaron El Sabrout, imogen xtian smith, and Julian Talamantez Brolaski take to the Alphabet Reading Garden for a poetic exploration of trans and nonbinary ecologies and understanding one’s own ecosystems.
Writer-in-Residence Volodymyr Rafeyenko has supplied a 600-word essay in Ukrainian to be translated by Mark Andryczyk, Dominique Hoffman, and Halyna Hryn. In this program, Mark, Dominique, and Halyna go head-to-head to defend their revealed translations. Who will come out on top?
Anne Carson, one of the most celebrated classicists of our times, will participate in staged readings from her works "Cassandra Float Can" (based on Aeschylus’s "Cassandra") and "Antigonick" (based on Sophokles’s "Antigone").
A dynamic discussion that will traverse hybrid and experimental poetic forms as well as the art, broadly speaking, of translation. Moderated by Michelle Gil-Montero.
Zhang Yueran’s translated novel "Women, Seated" has become an undeniable hit among American audiences. But what does it take to bring Chinese literature to the US? In conversation with Anderson Tepper, editor Han Zhang and translator Jeremy Tiang will discuss the translation process and the importance of translated literature in America.
