Nate Marshall, author of Wild Hundreds, winner of UPP’s Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, talks about his love for Chicago’s South Side, hip-hop culture’s influence on his work, and fantasy football. UPP: You are very passionate about the South Side of Chicago, as evidenced in Wild Hundreds, in various interviews and on social media. How would you explain that passion? NM: The South Side is a beautiful place. It can be a hard and complicated place but those are the most rewarding loves. It’s like what Algren says about loving Chicago “you may well find lovelier lovelies but never a lovely so real.”…

If you are in Pittsburgh, don’t miss the chance to hear and meet these fabulous University of Pittsburgh Press and Pitt Poetry Series authors:   Toi Derricotte September 23, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. Coffee Tree Roasters 5524 Walnut Street Pittsburgh, PA 15232 Pitt poet Toi Derricotte (The Undertaker’s Daughter) will be discussed by members of the Pitt Poetry Exchange on September 23 at the Coffee Tree Roasters in Shadyside. It’s free and open to the public; call 412-621-6880 for more info. Local poet Michael Wurster will lead the discussion.   Lynn Emanuel September 30th, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. The University Store 4000…

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,”…

Poet Nathalie Handal, author of The Republics, combines her love of cities and books in a monthly series called “The City and the Writer,” for the organization Words without Borders. “I have a passion for cities, their irresistible unrest, the way they make you feel unsettled yet welcomed,” she explained. “I also have a passion for books. And, as we all know, the two go hand-in-hand. It’s hard not to think of Prague when one mentions Milan Kundera. Just as it’s difficult when one mentions the mystical Tangiers to not think of Paul Bowles and his expatriate life among the…

As Cuba and the United States work to normalize relations, we feature a number of books on the island nation. Here’s a sampling: Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art Edited by Alejandro de la Fuente and Elío Rodriguez Valdés   Grupo Antillano: The Art of Afro-Cuba Edited by Alejandro de la Fuente   The Cuban Embargo: The Domestic Politics of an American Foreign Policy Patrick Haney and Walt Vanderbush   The Cuban Economy Archibald Ritter