Contact Us
For more information about the Writing Program at the University of Pittsburgh, please contact us:
Director of Writing Program
Peter Trachtenberg
Office: CL 501-R
tshakti@pitt.edu
Writing Program & Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series Assistant
Andrea Laurion
Office: CL 526
412-624-6508
arl117@pitt.edu
Director of Graduate Studies
Tyler Bickford
Office: CL 526
412-624-2613
bickford@pitt.edu
Graduate Administrator
Jesse Daugherty
Office: CL 526
412-624-6549
engrad@pitt.edu
Advising
Office: CL 501-C
Mark Kemp mkemp@pitt.edu 412-624-6656
Jeff Aziz jeffaziz@pitt.edu 412-624-2228
Lori Campbell camenenglish@verizon.net
FROM THE DIRECTOR
PittWriters is a large and diverse community of poets, novelists, short story writers, essayists and journalists interested in traditional forms and emerging media. Read More >
Graduate Testimonials
William Faulkner once said that few wish to write; most wish to have written. Pitt was where I fell in love with writing. Chuck Kinder was Director of the program, and he’d host legendary parties at his house in Squirrel Hill. It’s hard to explain how hanging out with Tobias Wolff or Lorin Stein, editor of The Paris Review, affected me as a 23-year old writer. The program also brought Maxine Hong Kingston, ZZ Packer, and George Saunders to campus while I was there. Being around all these writers (in some cases, eating pizza with them at the scarred wooden table in the secret poker room of the Panther Hollow Inn) was intimidating, but I learned several things, chiefly that these successful people were much more well-read (and well-practiced) than I was, and I’d better get with the program.
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