City of Asylum
Giving Voice.
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.
This program is a part of the Eris Quartet’s 2023 spring tour, which centers around their program "Paintings, Songs, and Dances," a presentation of contemporary string quartet repertoire through the lens of interdisciplinary performance.
To live is to tell stories. Embracing that truth, Story Club Pittsburgh (created by the former producers of The Moth Pittsburgh), organizes and hosts a monthly nonfiction storytelling series at City of Asylum. The theme for March 2023 is "Last Call."
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.
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.
Presented in partnership with the Center for Bioethics & Health Law at the University of Pittsburgh, City of Asylum welcomes Travis Rieder for an eye-opening exploration of his 2019 memoir, "In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle with Opioids."
This program is the remarkable debut of our Ukrainian Artist Series, which honors the resiliency of Ukrainian people and amplifies the remarkable work of Ukrainian artists. March’s program features violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv, accompanied by esteemed pianist Sung-Im Kim and celebrated Ukrainian poet Yuriy Tarnawsky.
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.
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.
In her first visit to City of Asylum, Jessica Johns celebrates the release of her foreboding and mysterious debut novel, "Bad Cree."
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.
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.
We are overjoyed to host this reading for Rania Mamoun—Sudanese journalist, activist, and City of Asylum writer-in-residence—and announce the launch of her new book, "Something Evergreen Called Life."
Multitalented and manifold, the members of Worldwide Tuning Society grace the Alphabet City stage for a night of uniquely exuberant music. Inspired by global roots-music and grounded by serious experience within them, Worldwide Tuning Society is a collective of diverse international performing artists and musicians dedicated to elevating spirit through sound.
Story Club Pittsburgh (created by the former producers of The Moth Pittsburgh), organizes and hosts a monthly nonfiction storytelling series at City of Asylum. The theme for February 2023 is "Breaking Up is Hard To Do."
For the second installment of this year’s International Reading Series, City of Asylum welcomes Emmanuel Iduma for a reading of his memoir, "I Am Still With You: A Reckoning with Silence, Inheritance, and History." It is a story of grief and loss, of political reckoning, and of navigating life when so much of what has shaped it has become intangible.
Co-Presented by the University of Pittsburgh Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures and MONKEY x Stone Bridge Press, award-winning author Hiromi Itō and esteemed translator Jeffrey Angles present a reading of "The Thorn Puller," Hiromi’s first novel to appear in English.
Reel Stories is a free monthly film series dedicated to showcasing international queer cinema presented in partnership with Reel Q, Pittsburgh's LGBTQ+ Film Festival. February’s screening presents Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, a 2013 romantic comedy directed by Arvin Chen.
Co-presented with the University of Pittsburgh Press, we are excited to welcome Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner, Ramona Reeves, to Alphabet City. In this reading, Ramona invites us into a world of humor, hustle, and human tenderness.
In this exciting and inspiring reading, we welcome one of the most important poetic voices of our time, Mahogany L. Browne, to share her highly anticipated collection, "Chrome Valley." Simultaneously spanning the course of her own life while embodying centuries of virulent history, this collection pays solemn tribute to the women who came before her.
Ukrainian theater company, Slovo. Theater Group returns (virtually) to the City of Asylum stage for a moderated discussion centering on the creation of their work "Mothermotherland." This program is a combination "where are they now" and behind the scenes style discussion with the artists, moderated from the Alphabet City stage by Alexis Jabour.
Pittsburgh jazz scene legends Yoko Suzuki, Roger Humphries, Dwayne Dolphin, and Max Leake return to the Alphabet City stage for a special Valentine's themed concert celebrating the romance of John Coltrane’s "A Love Supreme."
Since the founding of AppalAsia in 2009, they have followed their passion for artistic collaboration between different cultures and disciplines beyond race, religion, and gender. In this performance, AppalAsia shares selections from a recent project in which the group was asked to develop original music for the 1919 silent film "Broken Blossoms."
Nothing quite compares to that Friday feeling, and no one captures that feeling quite like Jason Kush. For this concert, Jason shares His latest project, "Finally Friday," expressing the communal feeling of relief and short-term survival that so often comes at the end of trying times.
Following their recent performance of "AKUTAGAWA," City of Asylum welcomes puppeteers Koryū Nishikawa V and Tom Lee, as well as Pittsburgh-based puppeteer David English, for an insightful conversation on the art of puppetry. This panel examines the ways in which puppetry can be a vehicle to express art and literature in addition to exploring cultural differences in the medium.
City of Asylum hosts a night of American Sign Language (ASL) and Visual Vernacular performances featuring Lisa McBee, and others. This is the second installment of our ongoing City of ASL series curated by ASL Poet Laureate of Allegheny County Mj Shahen.
Karel Berman. Hans Krása. Viktor Ullmann. Pavel Haas. The Clarion Quartet honors these four musicians from Terezín with a poignant evening of music. Selections include Haas’s String Quartet No. 2, Klein’s String Trio, and Ullman’s Piano Sonata No. 1.
The Free Association Reading Series is back for this year's second installment of intimate readings featuring exceptional local writers Clare Beams, Jim Daniels, Lisa Slage Robinson, and Damian Dressick. This series is co-curated by Pat Hart and Marc Nieson.
City of Asylum celebrates the release of "Relations: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices" edited by author Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond. Fresh and electrifying, "Relations" features stories, poems, and essays by African and diaspora writers.
Discover a world of creativity and tradition through a picture book program with Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, author of "Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky." This program includes a story time, an interactive activity about color, and a book signing. Children and families are encouraged to wear the color blue in celebration of the program.
