International Poetry Forum

10/08/2026

Nobel laureate Anne Carson at City of Asylum Pittsburgh last year!

10/08/2026

Anne Carson is the winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature!

Carson visited Pittsburgh last year for an extraordinary reading at City of Asylum City of Asylum Bookstore. If you have a favorite work or line by Carson, let us know.

10/07/2026

Eva Marie Saint (1924–2026)

The International Poetry Forum mourns the passing of our dear friend and alumna Eva Marie Saint, one of the great American actresses of the last century. She passed away yesterday at age 102.

Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning star of ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) and Alfred Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), Eva Marie Saint visited the International Poetry Forum to read from the works of Willa Cather in 1996, a year that coincided with the 100th anniversary of Cather’s arrival to Pittsburgh.

This passing comes after the recent news of the passing of two of our other alumni, Wendell Berry and Annie Dillard, each of whom contributed tremendously to poetry and the arts.

Visit the International Poetry Forum audio archive (via our website, link in bio) to listen to her incredible Cather reading.

10/07/2026

A party for Pittsburgh poets (and all writers/book lovers) at Jackworth Ginger B**r (21+) on Friday, Oct 23!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/booked-a-party-for-people-who-love-books-tickets-2002471266463?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Littsburgh

A Party For People Who Love Books (and the People Who Make Them Happen)

10/06/2026

Eva Marie Saint (July 4, 1924 – October 6, 2026)

The International Poetry Forum mourns the passing of our dear friend and alumna Eva Marie Saint, one of the great American actresses of the last century. She passed away today at age 102.

Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning star of ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) and Alfred Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), Eva Marie Saint visited the International Poetry Forum to read from the works of Willa Cather in 1996, a year that coincided with the 100th anniversary of Cather’s arrival to Pittsburgh.

This passing comes after the recent news of the passing of two of our other alumni, Wendell Berry and Annie Dillard, each of whom contributed tremendously to poetry and the arts.

Visit the International Poetry Forum audio archive (via our website, link in bio) to find a link to her incredible Willa Cather reading.

10/04/2026

On translating Coca-Cola into Chinese

#可口可乐 #中文

10/03/2026

What’s the most memorized poem in the world? Excluding religious texts, the strongest contender might be“Thoughts on a Quiet Night” 《靜夜思》 by Li Bai 李白, which is memorized by millions of young students each year.

That said, the question may be impossible to answer—if you have a different guess, let us know!

#李白 #中文

09/29/2026

As a child, our executive director fell in love with the poetry of Li Bai. This love ultimately led him to graduate school in Beijing before returning to Pittsburgh, home of the International Poetry Forum reading series.

Li Bai’s poem about drinking w**e alone underneath the moon is one of the most famous images of the moon in literary history.

Here are the opening lines of the poem with an English translation by Arthur Waley. How would you translate these lines?

花間一壺酒，
獨酌無相親。
舉杯邀明月，
對影成三人。

A cup of w**e, under the flowering trees;
I drink alone, for no friend is near.
Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon,
For he, with my shadow, will make three men.

#中文 #李白

09/25/2026

We’re hosting a poetry competition in the comments of this video, and everyone is welcome to participate.

The rules are simple:

1. Write an original poem (human-made; no AI use) on any subject, 14 lines maximum.

2. The first two lines of everyone’s poem must be:

When you get older you will die, Mom said,
And not come back to Pittsburgh for a while.

(*Shout-out to our director’s four-year-old for these existentially dreadful lines!)

3. Leave your poem in the comments by September 30, 2026, 11:59pm ET. Volunteer judges will choose the winner (rather than “like” count) from poems on Instagram and Facebook.

Good luck, and thanks to everyone for supporting the International Poetry Forum—our nonprofit organization turns 60 next month!

Visit our website (link in bio) to learn more about the International Poetry Forum, which has hosted readings by greats like Seamus Heaney, Mary Oliver, James Earl Jones, Princess Grace of Monaco, and hundreds more since 1966.

09/24/2026

Hozier’s music engages a range of literary influences. The artist has been vocal about his appreciation of poetry, particularly the work of International Poetry Forum alum Seamus Heaney.

What’s your favorite literary allusion or parallel in the music of ?