“The site impresses me so thoroughly that I immediately e-mail to get my own author bio posted. A week later, in a coffeeshop, I meet Littsburgh’s three creators: Rachel Ekstrom Courage, Nick Courage and Katie Kurtzman.”
– Pittsburgh City Paper
“Celebrating Pittsburgh’s vibrant literary scene, writers and readers and organizers connected over beers and book talk in the basement bar of the former Moose Lodge. Littsburgh’s founders Rachel Ekstrom, Nick Courage, and Katie Kurtzman made their way through the crowd of almost 200 people to promote their mission to showcase Pittsburgh as a hub of literary talent and activity.”
– Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“‘We know Pittsburgh has great football, and great technology, we have this cool food scene emerging,’ said Ekstrom. ‘A lot of people know Annie Dillard or Michael Chabon, August Wilson, and David McCullough, but there’s so much more here.”
Littsburgh is a great place to start exploring the literary scene, big and small, blossoming across Pittsburgh.”
– I Heart PGH
“‘Living here, you quickly discover that almost every night there are things going on,’ says writer Nick Courage, one of the founders of the site with his wife, Rachel Ekstrom, a literary agent, and Katie Kurtzman, an independent publicist.”
– Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“I found out about Littsburgh, an online literary hub that houses all the main events and happenings in Pittsburgh. This community featured a chapter from my book on their site which they also promoted through their social media channels. By clicking on their events calendar, I learned of a number of book clubs hosted by libraries, local readings and other places to submit my book for consideration of an event, which I wouldn’t have found on my own.”
– Writer’s Digest
“In a recent survey, Pittsburgh was ranked the sixth most literate city in the country. Filtered through criteria including bookstores, education, library resources and newspaper circulation, Pittsburgh boasts some of the most avid readers in the country. And Pittsburgh’s literary legacy includes Pulitzer Prize-winning authors August Wilson, Michael Chabon and Annie Dillard to name a few.
Littsburgh brings these readers and writers together ‘to showcase Pittsburgh as a hub of literary talent and activity, and to serve as a resource to foster further collaboration and connection within this community.'”
– NEXT Pittsburgh
“Our city is awash in exciting literary activity. From book-release parties to lectures to reading series, it’s hard to keep up with everything that’s happening in town. Launched earlier this year by Rachel Ekstrom Courage, her husband, Nick Courage, and Katie Kurtzman, Littsburgh’s website is a map of our literary community highlighting the people, places and events you should know about.”
– Pittsburgh Magazine
“Littsburgh has already become much more than a website. It’s a home for writers, booksellers, movers and shakers, organizers, and readers. We dream about future Allegheny-based festivals, readings, contests, and gatherings, but beyond that, we hope that Littsburgh becomes your destination. So, you get to see the crooked poetry of its hills and its epic three surging rivers for yourself.”
– Literary Hub
“‘Pittsburgh has such a vibrant literary scene. It just makes sense to connect all of these different kinds of people–to celebrate what they’re all doing with books–and see what happens,’ explains Courage.
Aside from authors, alone, one look at the Littsburgh site directory shows that our city is host to many more creatives within the literary realm. The directory has quickly become a thriving population composed of independent publishers, book marketers, literary agents, and even book jacket designers.”
– Näk You Out
“‘In the past six months, we’ve started to think of Littsburgh as a literary tourism bureau for the city,’ says Courage, who also works as a publishing consultant. ‘And that wasn’t necessarily how we started. We won’t claim all the credit because the bookstores were doing a lot of the hard work… But now we’re getting emails from publicists asking how many people do you think we could expect, where do you think we should send our authors.’”
– Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Support Littsburgh!
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!
As our audience has grown, however, so have our operating costs: hosting is increasingly expensive, spreading the word about literary Pittsburgh to our readers via social media channels requires paid “boosts,” and we’re investing literally hundreds of volunteer hours into the site every year.
With a small donation, one time or (even better!) recurring, you can help ensure that Littsburgh continues to grow and thrive.
Donate!
Help us spread the word about literary Pittsburgh!
