Poetry fair attracts students with free literature, readings

At the Pitt Poetry Club’s first ever Pittsburgh Poetry Fair held Friday, representatives of… At the Pitt Poetry Club’s first ever Pittsburgh Poetry Fair held Friday, representatives of the city’s poetry scene lined tables on the fifth floor of the Cathedral of Learning and networked with students.

Prosody, a contemporary literature radio show on WYEP, and The New Yinzer, an online literary journal, were among the eight groups passing out free literature and promoting poet involvement.

“It’s making clear to people who really may not realize all that’s going on with poetry in this city,” speaker Lynn Emanuel said.

Emanuel, the director of the writing program at Pitt and an award-winning poet, read Austrian poetry that was translated and published in English by a colleague.

“I encourage you to ask yourself, ‘What can I do to add to the soup of poetry, globally and in America?'” Emanuel said.

Students, faculty and community members overflowed the 50 chairs and swept the tables clean of free books.

“We were very, very pleased with the turnout for the fair, which started out as a small, University of Pittsburgh-centered concept that grew and grew into a city-wide event,” Poetry Club President Claire Donato said.

Renee Alberts, a Pitt alumna, said she liked that the fair was open to the entire community.

“It’s interesting to see where different parts of the community intersect and to hear the different styles and how poets connect,” Alberts said.

The Poetry Club is in its third year, and has hosted public readings by poets such as Ross Gay, Patrick Rosal and Terrance Hayes. The group plans to host more speakers this year, and to put together another chapbook of students’ poems.

The club will have another sidewalk chalk event despite its premature end last year, in which police asked students to stop writing poetry on sidewalks and concrete walls, Donato said.

The University of Pittsburgh Press, Autumn House Press, Supernova Undergraduate Reading Series and publications like The Original and Collision were also represented at the fair.

English department faculty members Ellen Smith, Barbara Edelman and Jeffrey Oaks also spoke.