On Friday night I went to the Gist Street reading series to hear poet Terrance Hayes and short fictioneer Charles D-Ambrosio read. And, like every other time I’ve gone to Gist Street, they’ve turned people away. I’m sure this makes the organizers feel all nice and fuzzy and popular, but it makes me wonder why they don’t look for a bigger room.
Currently the Gist Street reading series is held on the third floor of a marvelously old school artist’s loft (sculptor James Simon’s, specifically) in a rundown part of Pittsburgh. There’s a handbuilt sleeping loft, raw floors, uneven doors; a working bathtub sits in the middle of the reading/living space (filled, during readings, with ice and beer). When the weather gets warm, the readings are held in the yard, where chickens wander between the folding chairs. So OK, it is a fantastic space. It’s just a space that’s gotten too small.
Or maybe there’s just too much pressure on Gist Street. As far as I know, it’s the only regular literary reading series in Pittsburgh. Maybe if people could get to more cool readings, Gist Street wouldn’t be so damned crowded.
I’m sensing an impending announcement of the Hot Metal Bridge Reading Series!!!
It doesn’t actually make me feel “nice” or “warm” or “popular.” It makes me feel awful that people make the effort to come out to hear literature and are turned away again and again.
Sherrie – if it makes you feel “awful”, why not look for an alternate venue?
The current location for the Gist Street Series is a wonderful one. And to correct you, the readings are not held in a “rundown part of Pittsburgh” but in a location and a neighborhood with a rich history and which never really lost it’s popularity. Forgotten at times, perhaps, but certainly not rundown. am very familiar with the Uptown section of Pittsburgh as I was born and raised there and have numerous friends still there. I also was extremely involved in the various renovation and civic efforts in Uptown over the years.