News
- Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures Announces the New 2010-11 Season for The Drue Heinz Lectures
- Black, White & Read All Over Announces New Season and Invites Readers of All Ages to Meet Their Favorite Children's Authors
- more news
September 2010
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From the Director,
Celebrating 20 Years of Literary Lectures in Pittsburgh!
It's hard to believe but Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, our very modest, non-profit literary arts organization, was started in 1991, and presented our first season, The Three Rivers Lectures, beginning in the fall of that year. And what a season it was! The very first lecture was given by Annie Dillard who'd grown up in Pittsburgh and had become the literary darling of the "back to the garden" movement with her Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, A PILGRIM ON TINKER CREEK.Annie Dillard was followed that fall by Russell Banks, Martin Gilbert, Norman Mailer, Philip Caputo, William Kennedy, Linda Goss and TEJU-Tejoula Ologboni. My husband's cousin Leslie is married to Phil Caputo and, in November 1991, we thought that having a series of literary lectures in Pittsburgh and having Phil at the podium really put our city at the center of American arts and culture. I remember that Phil himself was simply stunned by the number of people who came out to the then-Fulton Theater to hear him speak about his Viet Nam War novel and experiences ... not an easy subject now, and certainly not then!
Twenty years and hundreds of lectures have passed since that first season. And, every time I walk out to the podium to welcome an eager audience to a Monday Night at the Lectures, I feel that we are gathered together in a unique and truly remarkable experience. Of course, some lectures are better than others and some writers are more approachable than others. No matter. We come together to celebrate their outstanding achievements in the literary arts and, as Drue Heinz says, "the universal values of great literature that draw the diverse parts of our community together."
It would be hard to find more diversity in literary genre and cultural background than in our slate of writers for this twentieth season. Annie Barrows will open our season on September 20th with the story of a huge best-selling novel that almost didn't get published, THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY. And Norris Church Mailer, married to Norman when he visited us twenty years ago, will end our season next April 4th with her well-reviewed memoir of their thirty two years together, A TICKET TO THE CIRCUS. How perfect is that?!
You can find out more about each of our upcoming lectures by clicking on The Drue Heinz Lectures and navigating to each speaker's page. Seats are going especially fast for Annie Barrows, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and NY TIMES Deal Book columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin. The sooner you order, the better your seats will be.
Many parents and teachers have called to ask about our family and children's book series, Black, White & Read All Over. I'm happy to tell you that due to generous multi-year support from a local foundation, this series is back with four great authors – Katherine Paterson, Kadir Nelson, Cornelia Funke, and YA author John Greene. We know these authors have lots of fans in the area, and that this is a unique opportunity for many kids to meet a favorite author – up close and personal! Click on the BWR tab above for details.
Tickets for all of our programs are now available online. You can also call us at the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures office at 412.622.8866 for information about any of these upcoming programs.
It's going to be a great season and I hope you'll be there to share the many unforgettable moments with all of us. As always, I enjoy reading your thoughts about our programs and the books you’re enjoying at info@pittsburghlectures.org.
Jayne Adair
Executive Director, Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures
August 31, 2010
A Postscript – To all of you who came out and made THE MOTH MAINSTAGE a sell-out on August 26th, many thanks for your support! AMERICAN SHORTS @ WYEP will return next summer and we hope to bring THE MOTH back to Pittsburgh for a third consecutive annual appearance. Check back for more information here!
