An Ode to Sappho with Selby Wynn Schwartz

City of Asylum @ Home

In her first visit to City of Asylum, Selby Wynn Schwartz shares her ode to The Poetess. Longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, Selby’s debut novel, "After Sappho," connects a myriad of women inspired by the ghost of Sappho to wrest their freedom and desire from the page.

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.

Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House: Ben Cain

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. The goal is to capture the memories, anecdotes, and insights of those who know Wilson’s epic American Century Cycle from the inside.

In-Dialogue series Presented by the #notwhite Collective

City of Asylum @ Home

The #notwhite collective in-dialogue series features conversations with BIPOC, AALANA, indigenous, and immigrant artists and arts administrators. The series reimagines the past and present history of the arts sector by engaging and presenting the wealth of experience, strategies, and tactics of the global majority, notwhite descendants, inheritors of colonialism, indigenous, and immigrants who navigate a predominantly white arts sector. 
November’s conversation feature ROSIE GORDON-WALLACE (6:00 PM) and DOMINIQUE ENRIQUEZ (7:00 PM)

Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House: Rico Parker

City of Asylum @ Home

Rico Parker has strong spiritual ties to the work of August Wilson. He has acted in only three of the plays, but in “King Hedley II,” he played one of the most difficult, complex lead roles in unusually difficult circumstances. Hear his thoughtful responses to the personal connections that make such work possible. Register to see it (just your zip code required) and send the link to August Wilson fans among your friends!

Jill Bialosky & Lynn Steger Strong

City of Asylum @ Home

What would life be without pondering ambition, art, family, and desire? Novelists Jill Bialosky and Lynn Steger Strong explore these themes and more in their latest respective novels, The Deceptions and Flight.

In-Dialogue series Presented by the #notwhite Collective

City of Asylum @ Home

Celebrating and recognizing arts and cultural workers, especially those who tend to be under the radar and forgotten about, the #notwhite collective has featured speakers from southwestern PA as well as national leaders in the arts.
October’s conversation features Shey Rivera.
The #notwhite collective is a group of thirteen women artists whose mission is to use non-individualist, multi-disciplinary art to make our stories visible as we relate, connect, and belong to the global majority.

Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House: Russell Hornsby

City of Asylum @ Home

Along with an active career on film and TV, Russell Hornsby has starred in five August Wilson plays, most notably in Denzel Washington’s “Fences” (both on Broadway and on film) and in the title role in “King Hedley II” at the Signature Theatre. His compelling interview is one of the most thoughtful, insightful in the 33 sessions of the Actors Talk August series. Register to see it (just your zip code required) and send the link to August Wilson fans among your friends!

Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House: Jonathan Berry and Chuck Timbers

City of Asylum @ Home

These two Pittsburgh actors are featured in “Jitney,” playing into September, 2022, in the theater in the back of August Wilson House in the Hill District. The interview is a stimulating, smart discussion, especially of the father-son emotions of Booster (Berry) and Doub (Timbers), as well as in the many other August Wilson plays they have done for the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre.

In-Dialogue series Presented by the #notwhite Collective

City of Asylum @ Home

Celebrating and recognizing arts and cultural workers, especially those who tend to be under the radar and forgotten about, the #notwhite collective has featured speakers from southwestern PA as well as national leaders in the arts. August’s conversation features Natiq Jalil and Victoria Snyder.

In-Dialogue series Presented by the #notwhite Collective

City of Asylum @ Home

The #notwhite collective in-Dialogue series features conversations with BIPOC, AALANA, indigenous and immigrant artists and arts administrators.
The series reimagines the past and present history of the arts sector by engaging and presenting the wealth of experience, strategies, and tactics of the global majority, notwhite descendants, inheritors of colonialism, indigenous and immigrants who navigate a predominantly white arts sector. 

“What You Need to Know About Me” Book Launch

City of Asylum @ Home

Celebrate the global release of What You Need to Know About Me, a powerful new anthology that centers on the immigration narratives of young people between the ages of 11 and 24. 
Edited by Yalie Saweda Kamara, the anthology’s eighty-four young writers share their dreams, hopes, fears, and realities with unrelenting candor, tenderness, and strength. The anthology’s entries challenge perceptions of migration and identity and compel readers to view these stories with open-mindedness and compassion.

Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House: Brenden Peifer and Melessie Clark

City of Asylum @ Home

This is an unusual interview for Actors Talk August: a duo of young actors just finishing their first August Wilson play. Brenden Peifer and Melessie Clark are playing Sterling and Risa in “Two Trains Running,” directed by Justin Emeka at Pittsburgh Public Theater (through June 19). Their first encounter with August Wilson traditions, characters and an experienced cast feeds plenty of thought by two lively, smart, responsive professionals just starting their August Wilson journeys.

In-Dialogue series Presented by the #notwhite Collective

City of Asylum @ Home

The #notwhite collective in-Dialogue series features conversations with BIPOC, AALANA, indigenous and immigrant artists and arts administrators.
The series reimagines the past and present history of the arts sector by engaging and presenting the wealth of experience, strategies, and tactics of the global majority, notwhite descendants, inheritors of colonialism, indigenous and immigrants who navigate a predominantly white arts sector. 
June’s program features artists: Staycee Pearl and Kuldeep Singh

In-Dialogue series Presented by the #notwhite collective

City of Asylum @ Home

The #notwhite collective in-Dialogue series features conversations with BIPOC, AALANA, indigenous and immigrant artists and arts administrators.
The series reimagines the past and present history of the arts sector by engaging and presenting the wealth of experience, strategies, and tactics of the global majority, notwhite descendants, inheritors of colonialism, indigenous and immigrants who navigate a predominantly white arts sector.
May’s program features artists Raul Moarquech and Toi Derricotte

Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House: Charles Dumas

City of Asylum @ Home

August Wilson House celebrates America’s greatest playwright with substantial insider interviews, with leading August Wilson actors, directors and artists, national and regional. Hosted and moderated  by Chris Rawson, veteran Pittsburgh Post-Gazette theater critic who chronicled Wilson’s career and became a friend. The goal is to capture the memories, anecdotes and insights of those who know Wilson’s epic American Century Cycle from the inside.

Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House: Kim Staunton

City of Asylum @ Home

August Wilson House celebrates America’s greatest playwright with substantial insider interviews, with leading August Wilson actors, directors and artists, national and regional. Hosted and moderated  by Chris Rawson, veteran Pittsburgh Post-Gazette theater critic who chronicled Wilson’s career and became a friend. The goal is to capture the memories, anecdotes and insights of those who know Wilson’s epic American Century Cycle from the inside.

Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House

City of Asylum @ Home

August Wilson House celebrates America’s greatest playwright with substantial insider interviews, with leading August Wilson actors, directors and artists, national and regional. Featuring Ron OJ Parson is working now on his 30th August Wilson production, sometimes as an actor but mainly a director, where he is just one-and-a-half shows short of completing his 10-play Cycle. His long journey allowed him to persuade Chicago’s Court Theatre to consider Wilson a classic, along with other Black playwrights. He says, “I like to bring August into the room.”