Literary couple Lori Jakiela and Dave Newman know firsthand what John Mellencamp means when he sings about small towns.
The authors, long-married and living in Jakiela’s hometown—Trafford, Pa.– will give readings and talk about the influence their own small towns have had on their work during an event at Trafford’s Manchester Room on Thursday, April 3 at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, with a reception and booksigning after the readings.
“People ask what part of what I write is Pittsburgh, is Westmoreland County, is Irwin,” Newman says, “and I tell them ‘every word.’ There’s no separation between myself, my work, and where I come from, am from. And I love that.”
Like Newman, Jakiela credits her hometown with both sparking and nourishing her creative life.
“Growing up, I always thought I had to leave Trafford to be a writer, and so I did that,” Jakiela says. “I lived in New York. I traveled everywhere. And, like so many Pittsburgh people do, I eventually found myself, through fate and obligation and love and luck, back where I started. And it wasn’t until I came back home to Trafford that I started to truly write.”
In addition to readings and book signings with both authors, the April 3 event will also include representatives from Trafford’s many volunteer organizations who will give updates on their plans for this spring and summer.
The event is sponsored by The Trafford Historical Society. Other organizations participating at the event include the Trafford Recreational Board; the Trafford Economic and Community Development Corporation (TECDC), and more. The Penn Area Library also helped with planning.
Andrew Capets, director of the Trafford Historical Society, says he’s eager to showcase the town’s past, as well as plans and possibilities for its future.
“Having people come together to show what Trafford is all about is inspiring,” Capets says. “And to be able to feature these two award-winning writers who write from this place we call home is an especially exciting way to tell that story.”
Jakiela is the author of eight books, most recently “ALL SKATE: True Stories from Middle Life,” which was just released by Roadside Press this month. Her work has appeared in “The New York Times,” “The Washington Post,”“The Chicago Tribune,” “The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette,” “Belt,” “Brevity,” “Vol 1 Brooklyn,” and elsewhere. She received the Saroyan Prize from Stanford University in for Excellence in International Literature (for her memoir “Belief Is Its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe”) and multiple Golden Quill Awards from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, among other honors. She directs the undergraduate writing program at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, and teaches in the doctoral program in creative writing at The Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Newman is the author of nine books, including his forthcoming poetry collection “Better Than the Best American Poetry,” and the 2024 story collection “She Throws Herself Forward to Stop the Fall” (both from Roadside Press. His collection “The Slaughterhouse Poems” (White Gorilla Press, 2013) was named one of the best books of the year by L Magazine. His poems, essays, and stories have appeared in magazines around the world, including “Ambit” (U.K.), “Tears In The Fence” (U.K.), “Gulf Stream,” “Belt,” and “Nerve Cowboy.” He also appeared alongside Jakiela in a PBS documentary narrated by Rick Sebak about Pittsburgh writers. Winner of numerous awards, including the Andre Dubus Novella Prize, Newman, after a decade of working in medical research, currently teaches in the Creative and Professional Writing Program at The University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg.
Michael Bertonaschi, whose work with the Westmoreland Heritage Trail will also be highlighted at the April 3 event, says he’s looking forward to gathering with the public to celebrate Trafford.
“We’re thinking of this event as a way to highlight all the good things happening in our town,” Bertonaschi says. “So many people are working hard to nurture this community. I’m excited to be part of that.”
For more information about the April 3 event, please call the Trafford Historical Society at 412-601-1691.
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