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Poetry Resources: Pittsburgh Poetry Scene

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Header reads "Pittsburgh Poetry Scene"

Logo for LittsburghAn incredibly complete portal to all things literary in Pittsburgh!

Littsburgh is an online destination for the writers, publishing professionals, organizations, and readers who make Pittsburgh one of the world’s most literary cities.

Littsburgh aims to showcase Pittsburgh as a hub of literary talent and activity, and to serve as a resource to foster further collaboration and connection within this community. We hope you join us by browsing our news, events, and literary roster (which features authors, publishers, booksellers — and more! — with strong ties to Pittsburgh).

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Logo for Autumn House Press

Autumn House Press is a Pittsburgh publisher, which has published books by many locally and nationally known poets.

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Logo for Cave Canem

Though Cave Canem is headquartered in Brooklyn, it was co-founded by Pittsburgh poet Toi Derricotte and sponsors workshops in Pittsburgh, so we consider it a part of the Pittisburgh poetry scene.

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Logo for City of Asylum

Click on the image above to visit their website and learn more about City of Asylum


Logo for International Poetry Forum ArchivesInternational Poetry Forum Archives

The International Poetry Forum (IPF), which was committed to introducing the community to the world’s finest poetry from 1966 to 2009, brought more than eight hundred poets and performers—representing thirty-five countries—to Pittsburgh. As one of the only independent organizations of its kind, the International Poetry Forum enhanced the role of poetry in the cultural life of Pittsburgh. Today, the International Poetry Forum Archives are a renowned history of American and international poetry and consist of more than 360 audio/visual reels, audio/visual tapes, and scrapbooks.The Archives are housed at Grace Library, Carlow University, and are open, by appointment, to the public.

Click the image on the left to visit the IPF Archive webpage.


Logo for Madwomen in the AtticMadwomen in the Attic

The Madwoman in the Attic was Susan Gilbert's and Susan Gubar’s ground-breaking study of the 19th-century woman writer. The women of the Carlow Creative Writing Center have adopted this term with good humor and a healthy dose of irony. The Madwomen in the Attic workshops have more magic than madness in them, and they are designed to help women writers tap into their ability to communicate through poetry and prose.

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Logo for Pitt Poetry Series

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Logo for Pittsburgh Poetry Collective

Pittsburgh Poetry Collective

Their Mission:

"To use poetry as a vehicle to express ourselves, explore our identity(ies), enhance literacy, increase critical thinking skills, increase self-confidence, and become agents of social change in Pittsburgh and the World!"

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Logo for the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange

Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange was founded in 1974 as a community-based organization of local poets. They are a service organization and an information exchange, and they promote poets and poetry.

Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange conducts ongoing workshops and produces poetry readings, forums, and other special events. They have a special interest in supporting all area poetry activities.

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Logo for Pittsburgh Radio for Contemporary Literature

Prosody was a weekly radio show hosted by Pittsburgh poet Jan Beatty. It is no longer on the air. The show gave local and national poets and writers a place to read their works for a Pittsburgh audience. The show archive continues to be available.

Click on the Prosody box above to visit its archive


Logo for Squirrel Hill Poetry Workshop

We’re poets in the Pittsburgh area who gather twice a month at the C.C. Mellor Memorial Library in Edgewood, PA to discuss our work. Our membership has varied over the years and has included a kindergarten teacher, a salesman, editors, a science writer, high school teachers, college professors, an architect, a retired biochemist.

We accept membership requests on an ongoing basis, but the group has been at or near capacity. If you’re interested, we will ask you to submit a maximum of five poems. Periodically, as space permits, we review applications. All members participate in this review process.

By invitation, prospective members may sit in on one of our sessions, to get a glimpse of the workshop process.

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Logo for Steel City Slam

The Steel City Slam is the only PSI Registered Poetry Slam venue in the city of Pittsburgh. Each year we select a team from open competition that represents Pittsburgh at the National Poetry Slam and any other regional slam tournaments. We hold a monthly slam (information below) year-round, although the official slam rankings begin in August and run through April, with a Grand Slam in late April or early May to determine the team. The first and second place slammers receive a cash prize.

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