BOOK EVENTS

Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month Book Club Reading — “Lulu and Milagro's Search for Clarity” by Angela Velez
Noon-1 p.m. Oct. 11, online

Join Pitt Libraries, the Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month Committee and Frederick Honors College for a lively book discussion of Peruvian-American author Angela Velez's book, “Lulu and Milagro's Search for Clarity,” which was featured as the best new release on “The Today Show.” Registration is required: https://pitt.libcal.com/calendar/today/velez. The first 10 registrants will receive a free print book. A free ebook is available.

Book launch for “Muslim Prisoner Litigation” by SpearIt
5:30 p.m. Oct. 12, 501 Cathedral of Learning
4-6 p.m. Oct. 18, Barco Law Library

The Department of Religious Studies and the Center for Civil Rights and Racial Justice, School of Law, will present separate book launches of “Muslim Prisoner Litigation: An Unsung American Tradition” by SpearIt, a professor of law at Pitt and affiliated faculty in religious studies. He will discuss his new book and copies will be on sale. Since the early 1960s, incarcerated Muslims have used legal action to establish their rights to religious freedom behind bars and improve the conditions of their incarceration. Inspired by Islamic principles of justice and equality, these efforts have played a critical role in safeguarding the civil rights not only of imprisoned Muslims but of all those confined to carceral settings. In this sweeping book — the first to examine this history in depth — SpearIt writes a missing chapter in the history of Islam in America while illuminating new perspectives on the role of religious expression and experience in the courtroom.

Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series Presents ... Elaine Hsieh Chou
7:30-9 p.m. Oct. 19, 501 Cathedral of Learning

Elaine Hsieh Chou is a Taiwanese-American writer from California. Her debut novel “Disorientation” (Penguin Press / Picador) is a New York Times Editors' Choice Book, an NPR Best Book of 2022, a VCU Cabell First Novelist shortlist nominee and an NYPL Young Lions Finalist. A former Rona Jaffe graduate fellow at NYU and NYFA artist fellow, her Pushcart Award-winning short fiction appears in Guernica, Black Warrior Review, Tin House Online, Ploughshares, The Atlantic and elsewhere. She is the recipient of the 2023 Fred R. Brown Literary Award. Her multi-genre short story collection “Where Are You Really From” is forthcoming from Penguin Press. 

NEW BOOKS

“From the Steel City to the White City: Western Pennsylvania and the World's Columbian Exposition,” by Zachary Brodt, University Archivist & Records Manager (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023)

“In From the Steel City to the White City,” Zachary Brodt explores Western Pennsylvania’s representation at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition, the first major step in demonstrating that Pittsburgh was more than simply America’s crucible — it was also a region of developing culture and innovation. The 1893 Columbian Exposition presented a chance for the United States to prove to the world that it was an industrial giant ready to become a global superpower. At the same time, Pittsburgh, a commercial center that formerly served as a starting point for western expansion, found itself serving as a major transportation, and increasingly industrial, hub during this period of extensive growth. Natural resources like petroleum and coal allowed Western Pennsylvania to become one of the largest iron- and steel-producing regions in the world. The Chicago fairgrounds provided a lucrative opportunity for area companies not only to provide construction materials, but to display the region’s many products. While Pittsburgh’s most famous contributions to the 1893 World’s Fair — alternating current electricity and the Ferris wheel — had a lasting impact on the United States and the world, other exhibits provided a snapshot of the area’s industries, natural resources, and inventions. The success of these exhibits, Brodt reveals, launched local companies into the 20th century, ensuring a steady flow of work, money and prestige.