Artist in Exile: Fatimah Asghar’s “Daughter of the Mountains: Poems of Heartbreak and Homecoming”
Join us for Fatimah Asghar's presentation of new meditative poems.
City of Asylum
City of Asylum builds a just community by protecting and celebrating creative free expression.
City of Asylum builds a just community by protecting and celebrating freedom of creative expression.
We provide sanctuary to endangered writers and artists, so that they can continue to create and their voices are not silenced.
We offer a broad range of free literary, arts, and humanities programs in a community setting to build social equity through cultural exchange.
And by transforming blighted properties into homes for our programs, we anchor neighborhood economic development.
Our History
City of Asylum was founded in 2004 by Northside residents Diane Samuels and Henry Reese. Our first writer, Huang Xiang, arrived in Pittsburgh in 2004.
We provide sanctuary to endangered writers and artists, so that they can continue to create and their voices are not silenced.
We offer a broad range of free literary, arts, and humanities programs in a community setting to build social equity through cultural exchange.
And by transforming blighted properties into homes for our programs, we anchor neighborhood economic development.
Our History
City of Asylum was founded in 2004 by Northside residents Diane Samuels and Henry Reese. Our first writer, Huang Xiang, arrived in Pittsburgh in 2004.
Contacts
City of Asylum
contact@cityofasylumpittsburgh.org
Photos
Upcoming Events
World of Music: Bombici (Mutant Balkan Dance Music)
Bombici brings uncommon time signatures, folks songs, dance music, and improvisational sounds to the Alphabet City stage.
Thursday Night Jazz: Kente Summer Madness Presents Thomas Wendt Quintet Celebrates Thad Mosley
Thomas Wendt shows his versatility and expressive drumming prowess in the second installment of the Kente Summer Madness series.
unmade place: sound text experiments with Varun Ravindran, 7D & Dade Lemanski, Viii Dorsey & Drew Collins, trē seguritan abalos & Jenna Peng
unmade place: sound text experiments with Varun Ravindran, 7D & Dade Lemanski, Viii Dorsey & Drew Collins, trē seguritan abalos & Jenna Peng
"PGHwrites: “unmade place” (Sound-Text Experiments) with Varun Ravindran, 7D & Dade Lemanski, Viii Dorsey & Drew Collins, trē seguritan abalos & Jenna Peng"
A collection of collaborative presentations in sound and language, featuring local improvisers, poets, and performers from across Pittsburgh
Story Club PGH Presents: Story Slam! (No Turning Back)
Share a time when you refused to turn back this August at Story Club PGH’s Story Slam, for the chance to win prizes and storytelling glory!
World of Music: Bealtaine (Celtic Folk)
With roots in Irish and Scottish folk music, Pittsburgh-based folk band Bealtaine keeps traditions alive while borrowing influences from the modern world.
Thursday Night Jazz: Colter Harper Quintet Celebrates the Music of Brazilian Singer-Songwriter & Activist Caetano Veloso
Colter Harper, Kelsey Robinson, José Luis Martins, Tony DePaolis, and Lucas Ashby honor a member of the Tropicália arts movement, Caetano Veloso.
World Literature: Karen Tei Yamashita’s “Questions 27 & 28” with Anderson Tepper
Author Karen Tei Yamashita shares a new novel illuminating the lives of three generations from the Japanese American community post–Pearl Harbor.
Past Events
20+
Jul 27
World Literature: Dimitry Elias Léger’s “Death of the Soccer God” (Haiti) with Anderson Tepper
Lecture
City of Asylum
Jul 23
Thursday Night Jazz: Steve Ippolito Trio’s Minimalist Improvisational Roots Sounds
Concert
City of Asylum
Jul 21
On Topic: Free Expression with Jacob Mchangama & Nadine Strossen
Lecture
City of Asylum
Jul 13
Chamber Music Pittsburgh Presents: The Cowboy Evolves — Journeys Through the Music of the Americas
Concert
City of Asylum
Jul 12
PGHwrites: Sarah Valentine’s “Decoding the Devil: Black Women Codebreakers and the Secret War Against Stalin’s Bomb” (Book Launch) with Tahirah J. Walker
Lecture
Jul 9
Thursday Night Jazz: Kente Summer Madness Presents the Mark Strickland Quartet
Concert
City of Asylum
Jun 25
Details
Jun 15
Chamber Music Pittsburgh Presents: The Cowboy Evolves — Journeys Through the Music of the Americas
Concert
City of Asylum
Jun 9
Artist in Exile: Oleksandr Frazé-Frazénko’s Ceramic Knives (Ukrainian Spring Songs)
Concert
City of Asylum
May 21
Jazz Poetry 2026: Poet-Vocalist Erika Denae J’s “In the Mood For” (Book Launch & Album Teaser)
Concert
City of Asylum
May 14
Jazz Poetry 2026: Spanish Pianist Marta Sánchez’s “For the Space You Left” & Poems by City of Asylum Writers-in-Residence
Concert
City of Asylum
May 7
Details
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