The Gist Street readings are held monthly and feature local and national poets and writers. The series focuses on emerging writers publishing their first or second books.
The readings are unpretentious and fun.
The series began in March of 2001 and is directed by Sherrie Flick along with Nancy Krygowski and Rick Schweikert. It’s held on the 3rd floor of James Simon’s sculpture studio at 305 Gist Street—Uptown—Pittsburgh. (Click for directions.) There is a $5 suggested donation, homemade bread by Antoine, and the Gist Street raffle where audience members win books, small sculptures, and vegetables from Sherrie’s garden (in season). Attendees are encouraged to bring food and drink and to socialize before and after the readings.
Doors open at 7:15pm and readings begin at 8:00. Sometimes there is music and most times Antoine brings homemade ice cream.
This project was supported by Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PA Partners), the regional arts funding partnership of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency. State government funding comes through an annual appropriation by Pennsylvania’s General Assembly and from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. PA Partners is administered in Allegheny County by the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council.
“Gist Streeters know how to listen! The audience is warm and kind. You could come there out of the rain, not knowing anyone, and they'd make you feel like a regular. Probably bring you a slice of pie too.”
