Pittsburgh, PA –  A celebration of the life and work of Ed Ochester will take place on September 12, 2025 at 7:30pm in the Connelly Ballroom, located in Alumni Hall on the University of Pittsburgh campus. The event will be emceed by former Pitt Poetry Series co-editor Terrance Hayes and will feature readings, remembrances, and a discussion with some of luminaries of American poetry and the Pitt Poetry Series under Ochester’s editorship: Quan Barry, Jan Beatty, Billy Collins, Denise Duhamel, Lynn Emanuel, Ross Gay, Paisley Rekdal, and Aaron Smith. The event is free and open to the public. The celebration is…

The Pitt Poetry Series at the University of Pittsburgh Press continues its tradition of publishing the finest contemporary poetry by announcing the forthcoming publication of the following collections: Steeplechase by Angela Ball: In a voice that is humorous, bewildered, disillusioned, hopeful, Steeplechase explores multiple landscapes, countries known and unknown, cities and inhabitants both aspirational and lost. On sale 2/10/2026   Antediluvian by Kameryn Alexa Carter: “Engaging with themes of the ecstatic, desire, mental illness, and spirituality, Antediluvian’s speaker calls on an intertextual constellation of artists as they attempt to wade through agoraphobia, parse out their relationship with God, and navigate…

Obligations to the Wounded by Mubanga Kalimamukwento has won the 2025 CLMP’s Firecracker Award for Fiction.  Obligations to the Wounded, winner of the 2024 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in October, 2024. From the Judges: “Seldom does fiction so expertly capture the complications of queerness, family, dislocation, and culture. Obligations to the Wounded is a triumphant collection of unforgettable tales whose characters are as varied in identity as they are in experienced circumstances. With wit and cunning, the protagonists navigate the ever-present systems of oppression that encircle them and their relationships. Mubanga Kalimamukwento has written…

Pittsburgh, PA – The University of Pittsburgh Press is thrilled to announce that Terrance Hayes, winner of the National Book Award and one of the leading voices in American poetry, will serve as judge of the 2026 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize. Submissions are now open for the first full-length book prize, with the winner receiving publication in the Pitt Poetry Series and a cash award of $5,000. Hayes, who has served as co-editor of the Pitt Poetry Series with Nancy Krygowski and Jeffrey McDaniel for four years, has also decided that the time is right to step back from…

Pittsburgh, PA — Bill Gaythwaite of Union, NJ, is the winner of the 2025 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, one of the nation’s most prestigious prizes for a collection of short stories. Gaythwaite’s collection, A Place in the World, was selected by Manuel Muñoz. A Place in the World will be published on October 7, 2025. “These are captivating stories that reveal how intertwined we really are with our past selves,” shares Manuel Muñoz, author of What You See in the Dark and The Consequences. “A fantastic collection about facing up to the ghosts of our mistakes and our fears, and…