Readings Series and Publications
Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series
Since its inception in 1998, the Writers Series has sponsored readings and short-term residencies by John McPhee, Wanda Coleman, Maxine Hong-Kingston, John Edgar Wideman, Mark Doty, Tess Gallagher, Richard Ford, Jane Anne Phillips, Alice Notley, Rick Bass, and other prestigious writers. As a participant in the Writers Series, each writer meets with graduate and undergraduate classes. All readings are free and open to the public. On average, the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series draws audiences of between two and three thousand people a year.
MFA Graduate Student-run Reading Series
The MFA graduate student-run reading series offers writers the opportunity to read their work in a supportive and casual atmosphere at local restaurant/pubs. Audience members can experience exciting new work and make connections in the writing community. While the series features MFA students, faculty, and visiting writers, community members are also invited to share their work.
Journals
As of spring of 2002, the Writing Program has its first online literary magazine, nidus, which is edited and managed by Pitt MFA students. Our program has an online chapbook, The Aural Tradition, which features readings from some of our faculty. The University of Pittsburgh Honors College also publishes Collision, an undergraduate journal of creative nonfiction.
University of Pittsburgh Press
The press publishes the Pitt Poetry Series, which in a poll of American poets (reported in Scholarly Publishing) was voted the best university press poetry series in the United States. The press offers the Agnes Starrett Prize for a first book of poetry ($5,000 and publication) and the Drue Heinz Literature Prize ($15,000 and publication) for a book-length collection of short fiction. For more information about these prizes and their deadlines, please contact the University of Pittsburgh Press directly.