VOICES, Pitt-Greensburg’s reading series celebrating the beauty and diversity of America’s literary landscape, will bring together authors Adriana E. Ramirez and Scott Silsbe, along with Pitt-Greensburg student writers Kaiden Ciongoli and Jeanette Hutzell, Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. in Pitt-Greensburg’s Fireside Lounge, located in Chambers Hall (150 Finoli Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601).
The reading, part of a three-day in-person celebration of storytelling at Pitt-Greensburg, is free and open to the public. Books by the visiting authors will be available for sale and signing.
Silsbe is the author of four books of poetry: “Unattended Fire,” “The River Underneath the City,” “Muskrat Friday Dinner,” and “Meet Me Where We Survive.” His poems and prose have appeared in many magazines and other publications. Born in Detroit, Silsbe now lives in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania.
Ramirez is a Mexican-Colombian writer, critic, and performance poet based in Pittsburgh. She won the inaugural PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize in 2015 for her novella-length work of nonfiction, “Dead Boys” (Little A, 2016). Her reviews, essays, and poems have also appeared in “The Atlantic,” “The Los Angeles Times,” “The Boston Globe,” “The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,” ESPN’s “The Undefeated,” “Los Angeles Review of Books,” “Guernica/PEN America,” and “Literary Hub,” among others. Once a nationally ranked slam poet, she founded the infamous Nasty Slam in Pittsburgh and continues to perform on stages around the country. She and novelist Angie Cruz founded “Aster(ix) Journal,” a literary journal giving voice to the censored and the marginalized. Her debut full-length work of nonfiction, “The Violence,” is forthcoming from Scribner.
This VOICES reading—the first in-person VOICES reading on Pitt-Greensburg’s campus since the pandemic—is one of three events celebrating storytelling that week.
“Wild Gratitude,” the Pitt-Greensburg’s Fall 2022 Storytellers Showcase, will bring together visiting writers, students, faculty, and alumni authors for readings, performances, and book launch celebrations. All events begin at 7 p.m. in the Fireside Lounge, located in Chambers Hall. All the events are free and open to the public.
The full schedule includes:
• Tuesday, Nov. 29: Storytellers’ Showcase featuring Pitt-Greensburg poets, writers, and filmmakers, and digital storytellers. Free-book table, on-site/on-request Typewriter Poems, and more.
• Wednesday, Nov. 30: VOICES Reading Series Live with poets Scott Silsbe and Adriana E. Ramirez; opening readers include Pitt-Greensburg students Kaiden Ciongoli and Jeanette Hutzell. Books by visiting authors will be available for sale and signing.
• Thursday, Dec. 1: Book Launch Celebration for authors Adam Matcho (“Cash for Gold”) and Celeste Gainey (…while we were waiting to become part of our century”), with opening readings by Pitt-Greensburg students Misha Laity and Caitlin Cruser. Copies of authors’ limited-edition books, created by the Pitt-Greensburg Literary and Online Publishing class, will be available for sale ($8) and author signings. Reception to follow the readings.
Lori Jakiela, professor of English and director of the Creative and Professional Writing Program, and Dave Newman, assistant professor in the Creative and Professional Writing Program, co-direct Pitt-Greensburg’s VOICES series and organized the “Wild Gratitude” storytelling events.
Building on the campus’s long-running Written/Spoken Series, VOICES and events like “Wild Gratitude” showcase Pitt-Greensburg's focus on experiential learning by bringing together undergraduate student-writers with award-winning authors.
“We are so proud of and grateful for our small, vibrant writing program,” Jakiela says. “Our students begin their writing lives at Pitt-Greensburg, where they get a sense of how alive and essential literature and the humanities still are in our world. And then our students go on to do great things--as writers, readers, good humans, and citizens of the planet. It’s so rewarding to encourage them and watch them grow.”
The VOICES readings are funded by the Pitt-Greensburg Academic Village. For more information about the series or about the Creative & Professional Writing Program at Pitt-Greensburg, please visit the campus website or contact Jakiela.