In Pittsburgh, a city known for balkanization, what with its countless neighborhoods and various parochial idiosyncrasies, the literary scene functions much like a fractal. It is constituted of a culture that encompasses communities of artists, musicians, publishers and writers within communities of artists, musicians, publishers and writers.
July 18, 2009, the opening day of the first-ever Pittsburgh Small Press Festival expo at Carnegie Mellon University's Miller Gallery did well to acknowledge the multifaceted nature of the Pittsburgh literary scene while highlighting the unity in diversity that provides a nucleus for an ever-widening cultural circle of artists in the Pittsburgh area.
Looking for an expert opinion on who constitutes the list of Pittsburgh's best poets, I decided to go to experienced veterans of the Burgh's ever-expanding circle of versesayers, Kris Collins and Scott Silsbe, who manage Caliban Book Shop on South Craig Street by day and satiate their poetic cravings by night, penning their own published (and soon-to-be published work) while running The New Yinzer online literary magazine and hosting poetry readings around town.
When Kurt Vonnegut published his first novel, "Player Piano," in 1952, he wrote about corporate culture taking over in America. It was the end of WWII and Vonnegut, as a young novelist, wrote about a distant future where the corporate powers that were beginning to dominate the American landscape seized the opportunities presented by the fragile post-war economy. Today, 57 years later, Vonnegut's vision is much closer to reality than anyone browsing the "new fiction" section in 1952 would accept. Vonnegut is a visionary. This article examines the lasting value and effect of Vonnegut's ever-true vision and work.
According to co-directors of Open Thread, Scott Andrew and Adam Atkinson, the Pittsburgh SPF was created specifically to "give authors, bookmakers, editors, and publishers an opportunity to sell their books-and provide Pittsburghers with a chance to more fully experience the region's small press community. Open Thread's mission is to establish frameworks for artistic discovery in Pittsburgh and the surrounding tri-state area."
This new online literary
magazine is a publication of Swansea University's Postgraduate Creative
and Media Writing Programme.
Swansea Review is dedicated to publishing fresh fiction, nonfiction, and poetry--and they are now accepting submissions for the next edition.