Gist Street Reading Series livens up Fridays

Gist Street Reading Series

3rd floor of Simon Sculpture Studio, 305 Gist… Gist Street Reading Series

3rd floor of Simon Sculpture Studio, 305 Gist St.

Admission: $10

Next Meeting: Friday, Sept. 3, 8 p.m.

Friday nights, most college students find themselves faced with one of two options: either spend a few hours at a frat party or be trapped in the library catching up on what seems like an endless amount of schoolwork. But don’t fret: There’s an alternative for students who want to get out and socialize but aren’t into the whole party scene. It’s called the Gist Street Reading Series.

Held in James Simon’s sculpture studio at 305 Gist St. in Uptown on the first Friday of every month, each meeting features a poet and a fiction author as well as a lively forum for meeting fellow literature lovers.

The Gist Street Reading Series began in March 2001 when poet Nancy Krygowski and fiction writer Sherrie Flick saw a void in the Pittsburgh literary scene and decided to get together and showcase their writing to a small audience.

“We started the series because we had an interest in participating in changing the cultural arts scene in Pittsburgh,” Flick said. “At the time, we were new to Pittsburgh and saw the series as a great way to stay connected to a national literary scene while also meeting new people in Pittsburgh.”

Interested in creating a community series, the duo looked to past experiences to prepare them for Gist Street. Krygowski had run a series in New Hampshire, and as a grad student ran the Hemingway’s Reading Series here in Oakland. Flick, a fiction author, ran a series in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Flick said the series caught on quickly. With the help of Simon, a friend who offered his sculpture gallery as a meeting place, and the logistic support of artists and playwrights Rick Schweikert, John Fleenor, Tom Kizer, Jon Ritz and Cynthia Closkey, the monthly series was up and running.

Flick said that the readings are “fun and social. People line up to get in.”

Beginning about 7:15 p.m., the audience can listen to music, eat, drink, mingle and get to know one another. The atmosphere is cool, relaxed and unpretentious, Flick said.

“We focus on emerging writers — authors publishing their first and second books. Each month a prose writer and poet read,” Flick said.

Readings start about 8 p.m., with the first done by a poet and followed by a short break in which homemade ice cream is served. After the break, a fiction author reads. The evening ends with a drawing of raffle prizes. Afterward, you can buy books, meet with the authors or continue chatting with fellow audience members.

“It’s fun, and hard to explain if you’ve never been there,” Flick said. “We’ve been selling out every month for about five years now.”

The Gist Street Reading Series has featured many different authors and poets over the years, representing multiple genres and styles. Gist Street organizers look both locally and nationally for readers.

“We try to book a variety of voices for the series. Writers often come recommended from past readers or through relationships we’ve formed with a selection of presses. We like people who have a good track record, who are recommended as good readers and nice people,” Flick said of the selection process.

Past readers include Nancy Reisman, John McNally, Cathy Day, Irina Reyn, Ben Percy, Anthony McCann, Tomaž Šalamun and Cheryl Dumesnil, among many others.

“I’ve loved many readings. One of my all-time favorites was Terrance Hayes paired with Charles D’Ambrosio. Another was the poet Ilya Kaminsky who gave a brilliant reading and led a great craft lecture the next day,” Flick said.

Ultimately, it’d be a waste to defy partying and studying on your Friday night if it weren’t for the fact that the writers chosen to frequent the sculpture studio on Gist Street all have one thing: talent.

“We look, mainly, for great writing,” Flick said. “The kind of story or poem that makes you stop in your tracks and think for a while.”