Pitt to Host Reading by Poets Ruth Schwartz and Barbara Edelman Feb. 16

PITTSBURGH-Poets Ruth Schwartz and Barbara Edelman will give a free public reading at noon Feb. 16 in the University of Pittsburgh Book Center, 4000 Fifth Ave., Oakland.

An award-winning poet and author, Schwartz received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University and the Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan. She spent years working as a public health educator, trainer, and consultant specializing in AIDS and cancer. Fluent in Spanish, Schwartz has taught creative writing at Cleveland State University; Goddard College, Vt.; Mills College, Calif.; California State University-Fresno; and California College of the Arts. Currently a certified practitioner of depth hypnosis and Shamanic counseling, Schwartz directs the Anam. Cara House, a center for healing arts in Oakland, Calif.

Schwartz's most recent book, Dear Good, Naked Morning (Autumn House Press, 2005), was preceded by Edgewater (HarperCollins, 2002), the 2001 National Poetry Series winner. Her other award-winning books include Singular Bodies (Anhinga Press, 2001), which received the 2000 Anhinga Prize for Poetry, and Accordion Breathing and Dancing (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996), which received the 1994 Associated Writing Programs Award.

A Pitt visiting lecturer of literature, Edelman also was a poet in residence at the Ellis School, Pittsburgh. She received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University and Master of Arts degree in English from California State University, Northridge, and earned the Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry at Pitt. Recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant, Edelman has had her poetry published in Cimarron Review, 5 AM, Prairie Schooner, and Poet Lore. Edelman, an actor and theatrical agent, has published several works, including her first chapbook, A Girl in Water (Parallel Press, 2002). Her one-act play, Charades, was performed at the 1993 Pittsburgh New Works Festival.

This event is sponsored by The Book Center, Autumn House Press, and the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange.

For more information, call The Book Center at 412-648-1453.

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