Pittsburgh is home to an incredible range of authors, publishing professionals, literary event organizers and opinion leaders.
Our city nurtures well-known and emerging literary talent and is the inspiration for many works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In addition to the authors you may recognize, Littsburgh’s evolving literary roster features some of the passionate people who work behind the scenes to find local and national audiences for this work, and who help make Pittsburgh a haven for writers and readers.
If you would like to suggest yourself or someone you know (who currently lives in Pittsburgh) for inclusion in this directory, please email us with a biographical sketch, and any relevant website and social links. We no longer require a high-resolution photograph.
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Biography
Leah Pileggi was born in Kane, Pennsylvania, a tiny town in the middle of the Allegheny National Forest. She assumed everyone grew up watching men use chain saws to make chairs out of tree stumps. While she didn’t have many books as a child, she now has more than one person probably should. Except that it’s not possible to have too many books.
She has lived in California, Connecticut and Texas and now lives in the big small town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she studied creative writing at Chatham University and professional writing at Carnegie Mellon University.
Prisoner 88 is her first novel. It’s a middle-grade historical novel based on a real 10-year-old boy who went to prison in Idaho in 1885 for shooting a man who had threatened to kill his father. It’s on state readings lists in Vermont, Nebraska and Arkansas. She is also the author of How to Design a World-Class Engineering College: A History of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, a historical narrative. Her work has appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Chautauquan Daily, Mental Floss and Hopscotch Magazine.
Leah is currently working on two book projects. The first one is a nonfiction book for kids about the Fort Pitt Blockhouse, a small but important building here in Pittsburgh that was built during the French & Indian War. The other book is a middle-grade novel about friendships and how far they can be pushed before they break. The story involves race relations in the 1950s, a young boy dealing with his parents’ possible divorce, and a search to find someone who might not want to be found.
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Littsburgh™ is the online destination for the writers, publishing professionals, organizers, institutions, and readers who make Pittsburgh one of the world’s most literary cities.
Founded by three publishing professionals in 2015, Littsburgh showcases Pittsburgh as a hub of literary talent and activity while serving as a resource to foster further collaboration and connection within Pittsburgh’s vibrant literary community.
Littsburgh is a passion project and has been since inception.
Because we’re self-powered, we’ve been able to continue promoting literary Pittsburgh without having to compromise our vision or our mission — and without having to close up shop because of lack of funding. Our goal is for Littsburgh to be here for the long haul… and we’re only getting bigger and better every year!
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