February 28, 2011

Pittsburgh Area Lit Events: February 28 - March 6

Tuesday, March 1:

Hungry Sphinx Reading Series
Weekly poetry and fiction series featuring area students and writers fills the upper
room of the Sphinx Hookah Cafe. This week's featured readers are Pittsburgh-area poets Jimmy Cvetic and Jim Daniels.

Sphinx Cafe
401 Atwood St Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland)
8:00pm - free - (412) 621-1153


WEAVE FEATURED EVENT!
Pitt MFA Reading Series Presents: Sal Pane & Matt Bell
Author & DZANC Books Editor Matt Bell reads in Pittsburgh with Weave Issue 4 contributor Sal Pane.
Panther Hollow Inn
4611 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland)
9:00pm - free

Release: Open Mic
Open Mic for poets, emcees and vocalists.
Shadow Lounge
972 Baum Blvd Pittsburgh, PA (East Liberty)
9:00pm(18+) - $5 - (412) 363-8277


Wednesday, March 2:

Keeping the Wolves at Bay Book Launch Reading
Join Autumn House Press for a special reading celebrating the release of the new anthology Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Stories by Emerging American Writers. The reading features contributors Jennifer Bannan, Jane Bernstein, Sherrie Flick, and Casey Taylor with Editor Sharon Dilworth.
Community College of Allegheny College - Allegheny Campus
Forester Student Center - 2nd Floor Auditorium
808 Ridge Ave Pittsburgh, PA (North Side)
1:00pm - free - (412) 381-4261

Prosody

91.3 WYEP Radio
7:30pm



Thursday, March 3:

Pittsburgh Writes
Weekly writers workshop.
Crazy Mocha Coffee
531 Beaver Street Sewickley, PA
Call for time - (412) 708-3312



Friday, March 4:

Amir Rashidd Reading
Pittsburgh-area poet and "master storyteller" Amir Rashidd reads from his work.
Awesome Books
5115 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Downtown)
6:00pm - free - (412) 606-1220


Word Circus Reading Series
Selected readers from Chatham's MFA program read, followed by an open mic.

Most Wanted Fine Art Gallery

5015 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Lawrenceville)

7:00pm - free - (412) 328-4737





Do you have a literary event you want to see listed on our calendar?
E-mail details to: joel.weavezine @ gmail.com

February 21, 2011

Pittsburgh Lit Events: February 21 - 27

Monday, February 21:

Drue Heinz Lecture Series - Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize & National Book Award winning author of Strength in What Remains (Random House, 2009), speaks in Pittsburgh.
Carnegie Music Hall
4400 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland)
7:30pm - $35+ - (412) 622-8866



Tuesday, February 22:

WEAVE FEATURED EVENT!
Hungry Sphinx Reading Series
Weekly poetry and fiction series featuring area students and writers fills the upper
room of the Sphinx Hookah Cafe. This week's featured readers are legendary Pittsburgh-area poets Judith Vollmer and Ed Ochester.

Sphinx Cafe
401 Atwood St Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland)
8:00pm - free - (421) 621-1153


Release: Open Mic
Open Mic for poets, emcees and vocalists.
Shadow Lounge
972 Baum Blvd Pittsburgh, PA (East Liberty)
9:00pm(18+) - $5 - (412) 363-8277



Wednesday, February 23:

Prosody

91.3 WYEP Radio
7:30pm


Trespass: 2011 - Archipelago: A Balkan Passage
Weave Issue 3 contributor Robert Isenberg’s one-man-show adaptation of his recent book, The Archipelago (Autumn House Press, 2010) is about a journey through the former Yugoslavia and presented by the No Name Players.
Future Tenant: A Space for Art
819 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA (downtown)
8:00pm - $5


Thursday, February 24:

Pittsburgh Writes
Weekly writers workshop.
Crazy Mocha Coffee
531 Beaver Street Sewickley, PA
Call for time - (412) 708-3312


Trespass: 2011 - Archipelago: A Balkan Passage
Weave Issue 3 contributor Robert Isenberg’s one-man-show adaptation of his recent book, The Archipelago (Autumn House Press, 2010) is about a journey through the former Yugoslavia and presented by the No Name Players.
Future Tenant: A Space for Art
819 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA (downtown)
8:00pm - $5


Friday, February 25:

WEAVE FEATURED EVENT!
Madwomen in the Attic present: Sally Rosen Kindred
Chatham University and the Madwomen in the Attic present Weave Issue 3 contributor Sally Rosen Kindred reading in support of her new book No Eden (Mayapple Press, 2011) [ed. note: be sure to check out Weave's review of No Eden here].
Enrico's Tazza d'Oro
1125 N. Highland Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Highland Park)
8:00pm - free - (412) 362-3676

Trespass: 2011 - Archipelago: A Balkan Passage
Weave Issue 3 contributor Robert Isenberg’s one-man-show adaptation of his recent book, The Archipelago (Autumn House Press, 2010) is about a journey through the former Yugoslavia and presented by the No Name Players.
Future Tenant: A Space for Art
819 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA (downtown)
8:00pm - $5




Do you have a literary event you want to see listed on our calendar?
E-mail details to: joel.weavezine @ gmail.com

February 14, 2011

Pittsburgh Lit Events: February 14 - 20

Tuesday, February 15:

Hungry Sphinx Reading Series
Weekly poetry and fiction series featuring area students and writers fills the upper
room of the Sphinx Hookah Cafe. Featured readers Dorit Brauer and Brenda Pavillian.

Sphinx Cafe
401 Atwood St Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland)
8:00pm - free - (421) 621-1153

Steel City Poetry Slam
Local poets perform slam poetry; hosted by DJ Brewer.
Shadow Lounge
972 Baum Blvd Pittsburgh, PA (East Liberty)
9:00pm(18+) - $5 - (412) 363-8277


Wednesday, February 16:

Prosody

91.3 WYEP Radio
7:30pm



Thursday, February 17:

Pittsburgh Writes
Weekly writers workshop.
Crazy Mocha Coffee
531 Beaver Street Sewickley, PA
Call for time - (412) 708-3312


The New Yinzer Presents
Join The New Yinzer for another installment of TNYPresents
. Featured writers include Justin Hopper, Sherrie Flick, and Jason Baldinger.
ModernFormations
4919 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Lawrenceville)
8:00pm - $5 (free w/ pot luck contribution)
- (412) 362-0274


Sunday, February 20:

WEAVE FEATURED EVENT!
Carnegie Library Sunday Reading Series
The Carnegie Library’s Sunday Poetry Reading Series hosts a reading with contributors to the speculative fiction anthology Triangulation: End of the Rainbow.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (Main Branch)
Quiet Reading Room, Main Floor
4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland)
2:00pm - free – (412)622-3151





Do you have a literary event you want to see listed on our calendar?
E-mail details to: joel.weavezine @ gmail.com

February 11, 2011

The Origin of a Name: Weave, Diversity and Visions for the Future

When Margaret and I started Weave almost three years ago, we wanted to choose a name that reflected the voices by which we were surrounded. We knew so many amazing writers and artists, both local and national, whose work we admired and respected. We envisioned our journal as a space to see a cross-section of diverse voices. We started close to home, literally and figuratively, with labels by which we personally identified (women, bisexual, feminist, poets, Pittsburghers, sub/urban) and then branched outward to increase our diversity. We wanted to publish everyone: women and men; LGBT writers and their allies; people of color; rural writers and city-dwellers; emerging and established artists; young and young-at-heart; people of varied abilities; high school students, undergraduates, Phd candidates and those without higher education; local, regional, national and international writers.

As we pondered our vision for what would become Weave, the word "weave" kept popping up. Eventually, I suggested it as our name and, just like that, Weave was born. You can check out the notes from this creative-name-brainstorming session at the bottom of this post. These are the original notes I took when Margaret and I first met in her apartment to start Weave.

A study recently published by VIDA, an organization for Women in the Literary Arts (so awesome by the way), shows the major gender disparities in publishing today. While not surprising, a similar study that was done years ago was what really inspired Margaret and I to push for diversity. Weave has always sought to publish at least 50% women in every issue. VIDA's study inspired me to actually get a real count, and to be honest, I can't believe I haven't already done this. It was fascinating to see how the numbers panned out. Each line links back to the contributor lists for that issue. I have included the percentage of female-identified contributors, since that's what is being addressed with VIDA's study:

Gender of Contributors by Issue:

Issue 01: 22 W / 13 M - 61% female
Issue 02: 28 W / 18 M - 61% female
Issue 03: 16 W / 13 M - 55% female
Issue 04: 18 W/ 4 M - 82% female
Issue 05: 30 W / 14 M - 68% female

Gender of Authors of Reviewed Books: 

10 W / 5 M - 66% female
(14 reviews online, 1 printed review)

What might be affecting these numbers? We accepted less work overall in issue 04, so our numbers skewed higher for women. We do specifically call ourselves feminist and are consciously encouraging women to (re)submit. All of our covers have been by female artists, except our most recent. Do cautious female writers feel more welcome to submit to Weave? Do they read an issue and imagine their work among the pages more so than male writers? I don't know honestly. It would be great to see how many submissions we get from women vs. men, but would be difficult to track since we didn't have a good system until recently.

I consider myself a feminist and, as I understand it, third-wave feminism has sought to incorporate the needs of all oppressed groups under their umbrella to strive for social change for all. The forces, whether conscious or unconscious, that are keeping women's voices from being heard, are the same forces that are quieting the voices of other minorities. As I saw it, for Weave to be called feminist, we needed to push for diversity overall. This whole debate also got me thinking about gender identity. What about trans-writers? What about gender-queer writers? Where do they fit among these statistics? I don't have answers. It would be difficult to track as well, since people would have to volunteer personal information. I know we have a solid number of lesbian, gay and bisexual contributors.

I am happy that diversity is a priority for Weave. At the end of the day though, we want high-quality work. Weave publishes the best of what we receive and solicit. But by allowing diversity to inform our editing process, we create a creative space where doors are always opening, not closing. Our name and logo includes a period for a reason. Weave is not just our name, it is a statement, a sentence, an action. This is the tradition we will continue with each issue. Each issue will continue to weave a beautiful tapestry of diverse, creative expression.

February 7, 2011

Pittsburgh Lit Events: February 7 - 13

Monday, February 7:

Free Poetry Workshop
Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange hosts open poetry workshop on the first Monday
of each month. Call for details.
Borders Books - Eastside
5986 Penn Circle South Pittsburgh, PA (East Liberty)
7:00pm - free - (412) 481-7636


Drue Heinz Lecture Series - Sapphire
Sapphire, award-winning poet and author of PUSH (inspiration for the 2009 film Precious), speaks in Pittsburgh.
Carnegie Music Hall
4400 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland)
7:30pm - $35+ - (412) 622-8866



Tuesday, February 8:

Hungry Sphinx Reading Series
Weekly poetry and fiction series featuring area students and writers fills the upper
room of the Sphinx Hookah Cafe. Featured readers TBA.

Sphinx Cafe
401 Atwood St Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland)
8:00pm - free - (421) 621-1153


Release: Open Mic
Open Mic for poets, emcees and vocalists.
Shadow Lounge
972 Baum Blvd Pittsburgh, PA (East Liberty)
9:00pm(18+) - $5 - (412) 363-8277



Wednesday, February 9:

Claire Keegan Reading
Irish writer Claire Keegan, winner of the 2009 Davy Byrnes Irish Writing Award, reads in Pittsburgh.
Carlow University
Aquinas Hall, Room 106
3333 Fifth Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland)
12:30pm - free - (412) 578-2095

Prosody
91.3 WYEP Radio
7:30pm


Thursday, February 10:

Pittsburgh Writes
Weekly writers workshop.
Crazy Mocha Coffee
531 Beaver Street Sewickley, PA
Call for time - (412) 741-4444



Friday, February 11:

WEAVE FEATURED EVENT!
Word Circus Reading Series
Selected readers from Chatham's MFA program read, followed by an open mic.

Most Wanted Fine Art Gallery

5015 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Lawrenceville)

7:00pm - free - (412) 328-4737





Do you have a literary event you want to see listed on our calendar?
E-mail details to: joel.weavezine @ gmail.com