Readings for Banned Book Week
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Backed by a $1,000 grant from a memorial fund for Pittsburgh native Judith Krug, Banned Book Week kicks off tonight with a new program and venue.
The late Mrs. Krug was director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom for 40 years and died last year. In her honor, the Freedom to Read Foundation established a fund to support Banned Book Week activities.
The library association has for years logged the many challenges to books in classrooms and libraries in its support of the First Amendment. It marks the incidents with a week of events calling attention to those threats.
This year, the observation is called "FREADom." National sponsors include the American Booksellers Association, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the Association of American Publishers.
The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh won one of seven Krug awards to support their annual program. The event has been moved from the library's Oakland headquarters to the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium nearby. It starts at 7 p.m.
Reading or performing excerpts from banned or censored works will be:
Joe Wos, director of the ToonSeum; Larry John Meyers, actor; Karla Boos, founder of Quantum Theatre; the Amish Monkeys comedy troupe; Highway Puppet Theater; and Temujim the Storyteller.
It's free and includes a sing-along to music that's been found objectionable. Details: 412-681-7736. For events nationally, there's www.bannedbooksweek.org.
• Poet Jacqueline Berger and fiction writer Matthew Pitt read from their respective works Thursday at 8 p.m. in Mellon Hall at Chatham University, Shadyside.
Ms. Berger is director of the graduate writing program at Notre Dame de Namur University and author of two poetry collections.
Mr. Pitt's stories have been published in such publications as Oxford American, The Southern Review, Colorado Review, New Letter and "Best New American Voices."
• The Gist Street Reading Series takes to the road Saturday with poetry, prose and pizza in Braddock.
The scene is 1137 Braddock Ave., and the readers are poet Joseph Bathanti and nonfiction writer J.C. Hallman, who will begin at 8 p.m.
Also on the program are flamenco dancing by Carolina Loyola-Garcia; an art opening, "Vanishing Point," at the UnSmoke Artspace; and pizza baked in Braddock's community wood-fired oven.
Cost is $5 at the door. Consult www.giststreet.org for more details.
First Published September 27, 2010 12:00 am
