Formerly “depressed Southern guy” returns to Pittsburgh to speak

When Tony Earley lived in Ambridge, outside Pittsburgh, he was “a depressed Southern guy… When Tony Earley lived in Ambridge, outside Pittsburgh, he was “a depressed Southern guy thinking about jumping off bridges.”

“You take a depressed Southern guy and drop him in Pittsburgh in the winter, with all those bridges – well, you do the math,” he said.

Immediately after stepping onstage in the Frick Fine Arts auditorium Wednesday evening, award-winning author and former Ambridge resident Tony Earley employed the dark humor that characterizes his short stories.

“It’s nice to be back in Pittsburgh, although I never imagined myself saying those words,” he added.

Earley, whose novel “Jim the Boy” and collections of short stories and nonfiction – “Here We Are in Paradise” and “Somehow Form a Family: Stories That Are Mostly True,” respectively – have garnered high acclaim from The New Yorker and The New York Times, among other publications. Two of his stories have been included in the Best American Short Stories anthologies.

Earley visited Pitt on Wednesday as part of the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series, sponsored by Pitt’s writing program.

Jeff Oaks, managing director of the series, was excited about Earley’s reading.

“We ask a certain number of fiction and nonfiction writers and poets every year, and we try to find writers who are the most excellent we can find,” Oaks said. “He was one of our choices for this year.”

The reading, which was free and open to the public, drew a diverse crowd, ranging from undergraduates to the elderly. Pitt’s own award-winning author Buddy Nordan enthusiastically introduced Earley.

“If you don’t know his work or don’t know it well, get to know it – he is a great writer,” Nordan said.

Earley read two short stories for his presentation, punctuating the narratives with terse but witty comments. The audience was invited to a reception immediately after the reading and was given an opportunity to meet Earley.

The Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series continues next month with two poets, Judith Vollmer and Joe Weil, speaking on March 4.