Listen to a special interview of Johann Egvall, author of The State as Investment Market by Sean Guillory on Sean’s Russia Blog. In it, he describes the model of corruption in Kyrgyzstan that is endemic not only to the region of Central Asia, but also to Russia, the Ukraine, and elsewhere. Sean Guillory also gives special mention to University of Pittsburgh Press’ Central Eurasia in Context Series, edited by Douglas Northrop, that has published numerous book on the region of Central Eurasia.  The State as Investment Market  Kyrgyzstan in Comparative Perspective Johan Engvall                Johan Engvall is a…

Chuck Noll: A Man for All Seasons In a conversation with Pittsburgh Magazine’s Mike Prisuta, MacCambridge provides a glimpse of how this long-awaited biography came to be. Book Excerpt: Head of the Class Noll’s affinity to educate — ‘Play the way you’ve been coached’ — leads to a super start. Immaculate Misconception Biographer Michael MacCambridge reveals Noll to be a thinker, a private family man, a connoisseur and a consummate leader — as four Super Bowl wins attest. View the FULL PDF.

“Poetry and Race in America: How the Humanities Engage with Social Problems,” sponsored by University of Pittsburgh Press (UPP) and the new Center for African American Poetry and Poetics (CAAPP), featured poetry readings by Toi Derricotte, Ross Gay, Rickey Laurentiis, Nate Marshall, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, and Afaa Michael Weaver, and a moderated discussion with the panelists by Terrance Hayes. The event took place on March 21, 2016 at the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium in Oakland, on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Photos by Aimee Colabine Beattie.

For those of you who weren’t able to join us and those of you who want to relive this special evening, here is the full video of the landmark event, Poetry and Race in America. Please wait a few seconds for the video to load.   You can also watch the video full screen here.  

Starrett Poetry Prize winner shares insight into hip hop Nate Marshall, 2014 winner of UPP’s Agnes Starrett Lynch Poetry Prize for his forthcoming collection Wild Hundreds, is also among the editors of the new release The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop. The book was recently highlighted in the Lambda Literary Review. The article includes comments from Marshall and his co-editors. “I think the reality of hip hop is that women and queer people and a lot of folks who we think about being in the margins have always been at the center of the culture,”…