Lesley Rains

Also, maybe we come up with, like, two more holidays, say in the early and late spring, that involve walking around the neighborhood and talking to your neighbors?

is this a metaphor for something, idk, maybe too subtle

Hell yes, Pittsburgh. Love Yinz. No Kings.

King Cool: Ed Ochester and The Pittsburgh School of Poetry - Pittsburgh Review of Books Only a handful of Saturdays ago I found myself in the awkward and somewhat surreal position of being at a crowded party and having to squeeze through a

A celebration of Ed Ochester’s life and legacy reveals how a poet from Queens transformed Pittsburgh’s literary scene. By @kcollins1974.bsky.social.

pghrev.com/king-cool-ed...

Did you know that if you buy my book on Amazon, Jeff Bezos makes 5 times as much as I do on each copy sold? Sharing some behind-the-scenes book math on why buying directly from presses is best for EVERYONE (except Bezos) in my newsletter today! aubreyhirsch.substack.com/p/book-math

Wonder Drug - Pittsburgh Review of Books The more I wonder, the more I love.

“The feeling of wonder is not just the feeling of awe, the captivation of wild landscapes or the sun falling under the ocean’s rim at twilight. Wonder is a quiet strum in a churchyard with a tender hound bounding after rabbits.”

An excerpt from CE Mackenzie's ACHY AFFECTS.

pghrev.com/wonder-drug/

Loved this poetry book so much! It was an honor to judge.

A blue building that says "Alternate Histories" and beneath it are six large windows covered in sci-fi & horror movies posters and ephemera

A window showing a large poster for John Carpenter's 1982 film THE THING, surrounded by tons of horror & sci-fi ephemera in the window

A tired man holds up an old VHS box that says "Alternate Histories Video" in front of a blue building that says "Alternate Histories" and beneath it are six large windows covered in sci-fi & horror movies posters and ephemera

A wall of VHS tapes, all for sale

Every October for Halloween I transform my studio into a retro VHS rental place with tapes for sale from vintage friends; it's a ton of work and so much fun. The Grand Opening is this Saturday, 12-4pm with vintage horror paperback seller The Bookubus and I'd love it if you came! 517 Greenfield Ave.

AUGUST WILSON'S AMERICAN CENTURY | Kirkus Reviews A biography of one of America’s greatest playwrights.

"a well-written biography that will persuade Wilson’s admirers to revisit his plays and introduce his work to a new generation of fans."

Terrific pre-pub review of August Wilson's American Century: Life as Art (on sale 2/10/26)

www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

Autumn House had a great time hanging out with @alternatehistories.bsky.social for National Read a Book Day! Thanks to Matt for hosting us and naming AHP as the nonprofit for the September "Give Back" program--this means they'll be donating 10% of their in-person sales to the press. 🧡

Ross Gay reading at the Celebration of Ed Ochester.

“Pitt [Poetry Series] is, to me, the shit.” - Ross Gay, celebrating the life and editorship of Ed Ochester

Welcome to the world, Pittsburgh Review of Books!

pghrev.com

12 noteworthy debut books you should read this September Debutiful’s Adam Vitcavage recommends noteworthy debut books for readers to discover each month.

Nice to see @upittpress.bsky.social author Brian Gyamfi’s poet debut, What God in the Kingdom of Bastards on this list, along with @tyler-m.bsky.social My Prisoner and other Stories, both out this month!

debutiful.net/2025/09/01/1...

This social media site will not and cannot succeed until everybody pats me on the head and tells me I’m a good boy for all my opinions

No offers on it yet, apparently…

Apparently it’s booked solid for showings for the next week.

This is my friend’s house! I’m sad he has to sell it. He put so much work into it.

I love him.

Mubanga Kalimamukwento Wins 2025 Firecracker Award for Fiction - JAY Lit Zambian author Mubanga Kalimamukwento has won the 2025 CLMP Firecracker Award for Fiction for her collection Obligations to the Wounded, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Awarded…

Mubanga Kalimamukwento Wins 2025 Firecracker Award for Fiction - JAY Lit jaylit.com/mubanga-kali...

Malcolm Jamal-Warner as Theo Huxtable, wearing a shirt by Gordon Gartrell.

A bright yellow graphic with fireworks, the cover of Obligations to the Wounded by Mubanga Kalimamukwento, and text reading “Winner of the 2025 Firecracker Award in Fiction.”

The winner of the 2025 #FirecrackerAward in Fiction is OBLIGATIONS TO THE WOUNDED by Mubanga Kalimamukwento, published by @upittpress.bsky.social! upittpress.org/books/978082...

Part memoir, part rhetoric study, Achy Affects considers how the ideas of harm reduction intersect with being trans.

Really proud to help usher this book into the world.

Happy pub day to Achy Affects: Crisis and Compositions of Selfhood by CE Mackenzie

Achy Affects is a trans-genre memoir that boldly reimagines how we care for ourselves and our communities amidst relentless cultural, political, and ecological upheavals.

Order here: upittpress.org/books/978082...

This fucking guy, I swear to god

Think about all the incredible writers you know who can’t get any publicity but James Fucking Frey gets the front page glow up in the Sunday NY Times, called a “literary outlaw” for making shit up in a book billed as non-fiction, and a whole paragraph devoted to him describing his orgasms.

Great to see Kent State University Press alongside our friends at @upittpress.bsky.social, @uakronpress.bsky.social, and Cleveland State University Poetry Center in this writeup of poetry publishing in the Rust Belt!

A Rust Belt Poetry Renaissance - Belt Magazine "We can be of our region and communities while also being part of a larger thing—whether that be American poetry, university press publishing, or just publishing in general.”

"We can be of our region and communities while also being part of a larger thing—whether that be American poetry, university press publishing, or just publishing in general.”

Read “A Rust Belt Poetry Renaissance” by Rose Bialer.

beltmag.com/a-rust-belt-...

Cover of Galileo’s Fame by Anna-Luna Post

Galleys available for Galileo’s Fame by @annalunapost.bsky.social

With this book, Anna-Luna Post offers a welcome new perspective on the volatile dynamic between early modern fame and science in Italy, shifting the focus from the recipient of fame to its brokers.

upittpress.org/books/978082...

The NEA Has Turned Its Back on Books—Now What? After the National Endowment for the Arts terminated dozens of grants last month, nonprofit publishers say the scuppering of the agency could upend the entire literary ecosystem.

An honor to appear in @publisherswkly.bsky.social with Daniel Slager, @chadwpost.bsky.social @willevans.bsky.social (and his mustache!) + other indie press greats who echoed my feeling that the NEA hit is survivable, downstream funding effects are scary.

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Other Trump White House Food Acronyms “The term ‘TACO,’ short for Trump Always Chickens Out, has been used to describe how markets tumble on the president’s tariff threats, then rebound...

GRAPE - Gift Received, Announced Pardon Early

PORK - Presidential Order Rewarding Kleptocracy

BACON - Barron Accepted, College Officially Normalized

MILK - Maliciously Ignorant, Like Kennedy

MACKEREL - Musk Around: Conceal Ketamine, Ecstasy, Ritalin, Ephedrine, LSD

depressed alcoholic detective from america: hard pass. tedious. not interested

depressed alcoholic detective from scandinavia: source of endless fascination. possibly the most compelling character in literature