Pittsburgh Authors in the News:

Pittsburgh’s own Nathaniel Philbrick has written a review of Philip Hoare’s The Whale in this week’s New York Times Book Review.  Philbrick writes acclaimed historical nonfiction, and his parents lived in Point Breeze.  We’ll be talking more about Philbrick, he’s a great writer and a really nice guy.

Michael Chabon has a funny, self-deprecating interview in the Wall Street Journal, that focuses on the literary life in San Francisco.  I’d argue that ours is just as great.

Patricia Dobler is one of my favorite Pittsburgh poets—probably my favorite poet, period.  She taught at Carlow College and was head of a writing workshop called “Madwomen in the Attic”.  She passed away in 2004, you can find her obituary from the Post-Gazette here.

I love her for her poems that never fail to make my eyes prickle, even in the least poetic of circumstances: reading Talking With Strangers while eating cold Chinese food for breakfast, or stranded at an airport.

I first met Dobler when she read her work at an assembly when I was in middle school.  I remember her reading “False Teeth,” and realizing that poems can be more than just images to decipher, but stories—with characters, plot, emotion.

Read more…

There are so many great Pittsburgh poets, screenwriters, playwrights, and authors of fiction and nonfiction. Here’s a quick list—by no means comprehensive—of writers who are either from the ‘burgh, lived here for a time, or have set their work in our fine city. Please let me know of any authors you’d like to add.

• Rachel Carson-Silent Spring…
• Michael Chabon-The Mysteries of Pittsburgh*, Wonder Boys*, Werewolves in their Youth: Stories,A Model World and Other Stories, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Summerland,The Final Solution: A Story of Detection…
• Willa Cather- My Antonia, O Pioneers!, Death Comes for the Archbishop…
• Annie Dillard- An American Childhood*, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,Teaching a Stone to Talk, For the Time Being,The Writing Life and more …
• Patricia Dobler-Talking to Strangers*, Collected Poems…
• Anne Gibbons-The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors…
• Samuel Hazo- The Pittsburgh That Stays Within You, Holy Surprise of Right Now,One Poem at a Time…
• Magaret Hodges- Saint George and the Dragon*,If You Had a Horse, and over 50 more children’s books…
• David McCullough- John Adams, Truman, The Johnstown Flood…
• Nathaniel Philbrick- In The Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex,Sea of Glory…
• August Wilson- Fences*, The Piano Lesson, Jitney, King Hedley II,Three Plays, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom…