Gist Street Reading Series: Friends of Gist Street

Sherrie Flick is author of the award-winning flash fiction chapbook I Call This Flirting (Flume Press, 2004). Anthologies include, Sudden Fiction (Norton, 2007), Flash Fiction Forward (Norton, 2006), Sudden Stories: The Mammoth Book of Minuscule Fiction (MAMMOTH Press, 2003), and You Have Time for This (Ooligan Press, 2007). She has received artist residencies from the Ucross Foundation and Atlantic Center for the Arts, as well as a Tennessee Williams Fellowship from Sewanee Writers’ Conference. In 2005, she was honored as one of Pittsburgh’s “40 under 40.” In 2007, she received an individual artist fellowship from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. (Buy I Call This Flirting here.)

Nancy Krygowski is a poet and Assistant Artistic Director of Gist Street. She's received grants from the PA Council on the Arts and from the Pittsburgh Foundation, plus residencies at the Jentel Foundation and The Kimmel Nelson Harding Center for the Arts. She is an adult literacy instructor in Pittsburgh.

Rick Schweikert is a playwright. His plays have been performed in Seattle, Nebraska and, most recently, his play UN BECOMING was produced at the 45th Street Theatre in New York. In his spare time he provides studio space for artists through a business he founded in 1997. He is a founding board member of Bricolage, a Pittsburgh theatre company. At Gist Street he is in charge of “operations” for the series, which includes but is not limited to beer and wine acquisition.

James Simon is a sculptor and owner of the James Simon studio, where the Gist Street Readings are held. (simonsculpture.com)

John Fleenor, former potter, present painter is also foreman of James Simon’s latest public art project: three 15 foot musicians to be installed on Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh in 2003. John is location coordinator for the Gist Street series, keeping the location together, installing emergency seating, and getting the writers what they need, when they need it. John donates a drawing monthly to the Gist Street raffle and every so often runs off to Idaho to help his mom on her alfalfa farm.

Antoine makes the bread.

George Thomas Mendel has provided photography for this website. (photo-now.com)

Craig Thompson has provided photography for this website. (pittsburgh-photographer.com)

Jon Ritz teaches writing at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. His stories and essays have appeared in American Literary Review, Cimarron Review, and the Chicago Tribune, and he is also the singer/guitarist for Pittsburgh alt-popsters The Faders. Jon runs sound for Gist Street and records each reading for posterity.

Linn Meyers is a visual artist who wears her Gist Street t-shirt as much as hygienically possible. Visit her at linnmeyers.com/

Autumn House Press - www.autumnhouse.org - 412-381-4261
Friends of Gist Street (and you are one) get a 20% discount on all phone or email orders.

Mammoth books is an independent publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry based in Western Pennsylvania. They will co-host the 2003 Cookout Extravaganza to celebrate the release of Sudden Stories: A MAMMOTH Anthology of Minuscule Fiction, edited by Dinty W. Moore. (mammothbooks.com)

Stephanie Brulia is a massage therapist specializing in Swedish and Neuromuscular Therapy. She works in Regent Square and is also available for house calls. She is the unofficial massage therapist of the stressed-out Gist Street administration and comes highly recommended. Call 412.242.0959 to schedule an appointment.

Verse Press publishes poetry and creative prose, including the winners of the annual Verse Prize and the National Poetry Series. We specialize in work by younger American poets, but also publish work by more established American poets who rock our world. (versepress.org)

Sally Denmead (aka “Monongahela Sal,” formerly “Brooklyn Sal”) is the official Chanteuse of the Gist Street Reading Series, as well as Auxillary Hostess. She has been entertaining the Uptown troops since 2002 with music from the 20’s and 30’s, finally deciding to move to Pittsburgh in January ‘04 “to cut down on the commute.” Sally also teaches voice lessons (ask Jon Ritz!) and sings for various church services. “It’s kind of a family business,” she says. “We put the ‘fun’ back in ‘funeral.’”

Cynthia Closkey is the web godess. She designs websites for companies, organizations, and individuals at Big Big Design. She also co-founded Fat Plum, which provides juicy solutions for today’s writers, and Pittsburgh Bloggers, the leading directory of blogs in the Pittsburgh area.