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 2025 reading period for the Pitt Poetry Series is now open. Submissions to the Pitt Poetry Series are open to any poet writing in English who has published at least one full-length poetry collection. The qualification of prior full-length publication is defined as a book of 48 or more pages, exclusive of front matter, in a recognized publisher’s print edition of at least 500 copies. Poets who have not published a book before, or only in limited editions of less than 500 copies, or who have published chapbooks, should refer to the rules for our first-book competition, the Agnes Lynch…

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…

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…

Pitt Poetry Series author Michael Wurster will receive a City Paper Person of the Year Award in Literature on January 9th, from 6-9 p.m., at the Greer Cabaret Theater, People of the Year Speakeasy 2024. Congratulations to Michael on this special recognition for his lifelong achievements in promoting poetry and literature in Pittsburgh. For Tickets visit People of the Year Speakeasy 2024: https://us.commitchange.com/pa/pittsburgh/pittsburgh-city-paper/events/people-of-the-year-speakeasy-2024