Karen Lillis reading from her novel, The Second Elizabeth

April 22, 2010 - 4:00pm - 5:30pm

2201 Wesley W. Posvar Hall

Women's Studies Program

Lillis is the author of the feminist novels, i, scorpion: foul belly-crawler of the desert (Words Like Kudzu Press, 2000) & Magenta’s Adventures Underground (WLK, 2004). She is Program Assistant for the Cultural Studies Program, and a 2009 MLIS graduate of the School of Information Sciences.

“Karen Lillis writes with a cadence and a rhythm that are hypnotic….The Second Elizabeth celebrates what my theologian father called ‘the mystery in the ordinary.’ ”

Eckhard Gerdes, Journal of Experimental Fiction

"...A novel of simplicity as well as survival, and the often untouched-upon intimacy of these two concepts....With The Second Elizabeth, the coming-of-age novel grows up."

Kimberly Ann Southwick, Gigantic Sequins Magazine

Light reception to follow.

Small Press Pittsburgh

Here's a stolen segment of a facebook post by Karen Lillis:

Small Press Tourism in Pittsburgh

Today at 1:28pm

To my fellow comrades in the Pittsburgh small press scene,

Last night I attended a reading at the awesome Cyberpunk Apocalypse writer's house in funky Upper Lawrenceville. Eric Nelson was reading from his newly-published book, Silk City, out from Knickerbocker Circus Press (Astoria, Queens). The audience was attentive, appreciative, and intimate; one of the resident writers baked cookies for us; and we retired to the kitchen for some fine post-reading banter about New Jersey, Pittsburgh, reading tours, contemporary fiction, and Bruce Springsteen. I really enjoyed Eric's stories of working-class Paterson, New Jersey, and when I realized that he had flown to Pittsburgh (from NYC) for a 2-day stay (they gave him a couch at the Cyberpunk house), I wanted to take a moment and remind us, as a community, that we are bringing people to Pittsburgh who wouldn't have come. We, the run-everything-on-a-dream-and-a-shoestring small press community, are responsible for a small but growing tourism in Pittsburgh: Small Press Tourism. (I give credit for the concept to Larry Portzline, who invented Book Store Tourism.)

I'm writing today to thank the reading series and small press events that have brought out-of-towners to read in Pittsburgh, as well as sleep in our hotels, sample our bookstores and restaurants, visit our art museums, and best of all, spread the word that Pittsburgh is greener than you think, that Pittsburgh is alive and well, that Pittsburgh is writing and reading and listening.

Gist Street Reading Series has generally brought 2 out of town readers a month for almost a decade (sometimes Pittsburgh writers are featured instead) and in the summer they feature one small press with several writers included.

The New Yinzer Presents series has brought out of town writers such as Michael Kimball and Jen Michalski (Baltimore), Jackie Corley (New Jersey), and Amy Guth (Chicago). Matt Bell (Ann Arbor) is coming soon.

The Six Gallery Press Showcase brings Scott McClanahan (West Virginia) to Pittsburgh a few times a year (and I hear he'll be reading at Gist Street this summer!).

The Cyberpunk Apocalypse writer's house hosts readers more often than I realized. My pal Mike Faloon (Go Metric) is coming to read from a new book in July, and when I asked Daniel McCloskey (Cyberpunk's founder) about it, he said he'd have to look it up--that there were so many readings arranged for July he'd lost track of the exact dates. They also host 5 writers for a long-term writer's residency program, and now they have a small room for short term residencies of 3 to 4 weeks.

The Typewriter Girls have been mixing up their Pittsburgh lineups with some out of town writers--I saw poet Sandra Beasley (Washington, DC) at a Howler's reading and she came back to town for the Typewriter Girls' Save the Libraries benefit reading.

Pittsburgh's wonderful small press, Autumn House, holds regular readings. Out of town readers they've featured have included Sam Ligon (Spokane, WA), Ada Limon (NYC), and Mary Crockett Hill (Virginia).

The City of Asylum/Pittsburgh has residencies for writers in exile from foreign countries. For readings they bring in wonderful writers from other City of Asylum cities, as well as luminaries such as Wole Soyinka, showcasing them alongside Pittsburgh's top writers and poets.

Recently, small press collaborators in town were able to host readings for Chicago's Ben Tanzer (Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine) and San Fran's Stephen Elliott (The Adderall Diaries).

And of course, Open Thread hosted the first Small Press Festival last summer, with the next one slated for September 2010. Last year's event brought small press folks from West Virginia, Ohio, Nashville, and Buffalo, among other places. This year's promises to draw even more folks in.

Please let me know if there are any reading series I'm forgetting in relation to out of town readers!

And lastly, I plan to start keeping track of these numbers, because I think it could give us some leverage as a community in the future.

Eric Nelson reads at the Cyberpunk Apocalypse house, March 27, 2010.

Library.

Here is an email that was sent to me by Karen Lillis. She is a writer, and read at the houses Library benefit. It's adressed to Pittsburghers so, if you don't know what to do about the library thing, check this out:

This is a crucial moment when your word of support can make a big difference in the fight to keep Pittsburgh libraries open. I have provided links below and a letter for you to cut and paste if you so choose. I hope you can take a moment to contact your officials, and pass this email on to others.

thank you,
Karen

*Save the library branches*
------->Letter and links below

*Demand transparency* from the library board for how they spend your taxpayers' money
*Demand a permanent plan* for funding the local libraries
*Request support and money* from your city, county, state officials
*Show your support* for the library system and what it provides
*Know your Pittsburgh history* which includes the history of the public library and the children's library

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh library board is threatening to close four branches, merge two and move one out of its beautiful historic building by February 1 unless the $1.2 million dollr budget gap is met and a permanent fudning plan found. But the library belongs to all of us! Please write to your officials NOW to prevent the branches from closing and to speed up the creation of a fair and viable funding plan. City councilmember Doug Shields says there is more money to be freed up if people contact their officials. (Shields also opposes taxing the students to get the libraries funded.) Scroll below for a letter to cut and paste (or add to) if you don't have time to write your own.

If you live in Pittsburgh, write to Mayor Luke: askpgh@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
and
your city councilmember, [Find here]:
http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/council/

If you live in Allegheny County, write to Dan Onorato, County Executive:
executive@alleghenycounty.us

If you live in PA, write to your state rep [find here using zip code in upper right corner]:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/county_list.cfm?CNTYLIST=ALLEGHENY

AND to Ed Rendell, our governor:
http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Governor/govmail.html


LETTER TO CUT AND PASTE IF YOU CHOOSE:

I'm writing to register protest against cutting branches of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. I believe that libraries are good for cities, good for citizens, good for students, and good for neighborhoods. The loss of any of these branches is a loss that Pittsburgh and its neighborhoods cannot afford. Pittsburgh already supports its branches so well as patrons; surely we can find a plan, together, to fairly and permanently fund the public library system.