We were so blown away by the lineup for the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures Ten Evenings 2016-17 Season that we decided to ask Executive Director Stephanie Flom for the inside scoop on her curatorial process…
Curating the Season
Putting together Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures 10 Evenings Season (with lots of support from our fantastic staff) is probably the most invigorating and terrifying part of my job. The goal is a dynamic mix of authors with new books and a season that has its own narrative. A mix of genres, fiction/non-fiction, and styles are a part of it. There is no prescription, no rules (except high quality) and that’s the art of it!
Year of the Memoir
2015 and 2016 have seen the publication of such strong literary memoirs by women with powerful stories to tell. And they are all so different. Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist is funny, sassy, and political, while Patti Smith’s M Train is poetic, a sweeping romp across time, art, and landscape. Diane Rehm shares a deeply moving personal account of the death of her husband and Helen Macdonald’s incorporates the grief of her father’s death into a philosophical journey spun around her training of a goshawk. Different and wonderful, wonderfully different—and we happily made room on our slate for them all!
Award-Winning Icons
There are authors who have had such a big book in the past that you wait with baited breath for their next one to be released. And sometimes you have to be very patient. It is thrilling to open the season with Siddhartha Mukherjee and his new book after the treasure he has given us with The Emperor of All Maladies. Last year Olive Kitteridge rebounded into our hearts with the mini-series, but I patiently awaited Elizabeth Strout’s new book. My Name is Lucy Barton is another stunner about strong, difficult women. Tim Egan was another “pounce” as soon as I learned about his new book—and what an amazing story it is—a charismatic Irish Revolutionary fighting in the US Civil War. Wild!
That Beautiful Novel
Last year it was Anthony Doerr with All The Light We Cannot See. This year it is Lauren Groff with Fates and Furies. They were both breakout books that I fell in love with right away and knew there would be a place on the season for them.
A Thrilling Lost Chapter of Mob Rule From the Publisher: "Western Pennsylvania’s New Kensington was in the grips of Mafia Read more
From the Publisher: "When her father pulls her out of high school to care for her invalid mother and little Read more
"Have you bookmarked your calendars? The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books returns on May 31, 2025! Join us for a Read more
From the Publisher: "J.New Books proudly presents How to Live Like Li Po in Pittsburgh, the first-ever essay collection by acclaimed Read more
Pittsburgh has been known as a Steel Town, a Sports Town, and an Eds & Meds Town; we believe it's Read more
"Clary is the Whitman of West Virginia, honoring the laborers, the precious encounters, the deeper wisdoms. He understands intimately that Read more
From the Publisher: "In Watching Sarah Rise, Jenny Briggs shares her experience parenting her daughter Sarah, a feisty girl who Read more
Brockport, PA — The WCoNA Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia® (here and after WCoNA) is pleased to announce its longlist Read more
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
About the Author: "Sean Gregory always loved fiction. At an early age he began reading the Hardy Boys and quickly 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
A lyrical and heartfelt tribute from a parent to their “everything,” their child. From the Publisher: "Following a parent and 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
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
"Life on the streets is hard but it's deadly when a young woman battles addiction." From the Publisher: "Where is Read more
