Pittsburgh, PA, August 26, 2021—City of Asylum Pittsburgh announces the 17th annual Jazz Poetry Month, consisting of nine concerts throughout September, including four international commissions.
The performances will kick off live from Alphabet City on Sunday, September 12, at 6:00 PM with Layale Chaker, a Lebanese violinist and composer whose work weaves together classical music, Jazz, Arabic Music, and improvisation. She is joined by her band to perform Inner Rhyme—Layale’s debut album— a suite of music that explores the sounds, rhythms, rhymes, shapes, and forms of Arabic poetry.
“At its core, Jazz Poetry is about the exchange of music, language, and ideas. This year, we feature musicians and poets from seven countries, including artists with long and deep connections to City of Asylum and artists new to Pittsburgh. We look forward to welcoming back in-person audiences to Alphabet City and to connecting with artists and concertgoers around the world via our online programming,” said Andrés Franco, Executive Director of City of Asylum.
“Jazz Poetry demonstrates that bringing musicians and poets together to experiment, to collaborate, and to express themselves freely yields performances greater than the sum of their parts. The 9 performances of Jazz Poetry 2021 allow artists to transcend differences in genre, style, and even language, and allow them to connect with audiences around the globe.” added Director of Programs, Abby Lembersky.
The four international commissions include a favorite from Jazz Poetry 2019, Jure Pukl (with live audiences in Slovenia and Alphabet City)… and three new to Pittsburgh, Norihide Nakajima (marking the first time Jazz Poetry Month has reached out to Japan), Vlatko Stefanovski Trio (North Macedonia), and Slow Motion Orchestra (Estonia). The musicians will perform concerts in renowned jazz clubs in their home countries.
The remaining programs feature work from national musicians, including Thumbscrew, who, as part of their fourth City of Asylum residency, recorded a showcase of their new material and a sneak peek of a forthcoming album. Additionally, audiences will enjoy two evenings of critically-acclaimed saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis. Finally, Mai Khoi—the first exiled musician in residence at City of Asylum—presents her Bad Activistproject live, performed for the first time in Pittsburgh. She is an Artist Protection Fund Fellow in residence at the University of Pittsburgh with participation from City of Asylum.
Jazz Poetry Month is made possible by the generous support from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Allegheny Health Network and UPMC. Media sponsorship courtesy of WZUM.
Registration and more details are located at alphabetcity.org/jazz-poetry-
About City of Asylum: City of Asylum builds a just community by protecting and celebrating creative free expression. We provide sanctuary to endangered literary writers, so that the writers can continue to write, and their voices are not silenced. We offer a broad range of free literary, arts, and humanities programs in a community setting to build social equity through cultural exchange. And by transforming blighted properties into homes for our programs, we anchor neighborhood economic development.
Most importantly: Where are you located, what are your hours, and do you have a particular focus in terms of the Read more
This just in from our friends at WCoNA: "To provide additional preparation time, we’ve extended the deadline to submit a Read more
One of our favorite local authors, Joshua David Bellin (author, most recently, of MYRIAD) just let us know that he's Read more
From City Books’ website: "About the Residency The City Books Writer’s Residency offers flexible access to a comfortable, creative space within Read more
Altoona, PA—The WCoNA Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia® (here and after WCoNA) is pleased to announce a call for nominations Read more
love, Pittsburgh is hosting a “Pittsburgh Dog & Frog” coloring contest! Kids, color a page from the children’s book, “Pittsburgh Read more
From Parsec (Pittsburgh's premier Science Fiction & Fantasy Organization): "The theme of Parsec Ink’s 2025 Triangulation anthology is Dark Hearts. Read more
From Prime Stage Theatre: According to Shakepeare’s melancholy prince Hamlet, “The play is the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience Read more
Littsburgh has always been a “nights and weekends” passion project, ever since we started the site back in 2015. We Read more
New York Times-bestselling author Patrick Radden Keefe will be featured at The Peters Township Library Foundation’s seventh annual Novel November Read more
"Founded in 2007 and sponsored by Madwomen in the Attic, the Patricia Dobler Poetry Award was created to honor the Read more
From the Publisher: "An eyewitness to a murder calls the Pittsburgh police from one of the city’s 446 bridges, then Read more
In case you missed the latest email from White Whale, they're currently hiring ("which we really don’t do very often!"). Read more
This just in from our friends at Write Pittsburgh: "We are now accepting applications for our teen writing programs, Rule Read more
From the Publisher: “Bye, Ocean! We love you!” the little girl sang along, a big smile on her face, because Read more
From our friends at Pennwriters, Inc: What Makes A Writer's Road Trip Mini Conference Unique? • We offer industry experts, Read more
As part of its fourth year, the Books Books Books author event in Lancaster, PA this year will be welcoming Read more
Announcing the Bridge LIT Fest— August 10–Venango Campus in Oil City, PA "Join us for a day of writing and Read more
"Join Peters Township Public Library on Saturday, September 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for this local author showcase. Read more
M. Christine Benner Dixon, Ph.D. is an author, editor, and writing coach living in the Squirrel Hill South neighborhood of Read more
