Please join us this Friday for a special BONFIRE + book release reading, featuring Lynn Emanuel, Joshua Zelesnick, and PVKVSV!
We are celebrating Josh's new book, Insert Coin, which just landed out of the press and into (y)our hands! Or, as chanted once during an Occupy march through Oakland, "Out of the dorms and into the streets!" The poems go.
Friday, February 7th@ 6:30pm
5810 Black Street
(Borland Garden in East Liberty)
Lynn Emanuel is the author of six books of poetry, most recently Transcript of the Disappearance, Exact and Diminishing (2023). The Nerve of It: Poems New and Selected, received the Lenore Marshall Award by The Academy of American Poets. She has, as well, been awarded the Eric Matthieu King Award from the Academy, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, The National Poetry Series Award, and a fellowship from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation. She has been a judge for the National Book Awards and has taught at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, The Warren Wilson Program in Creative Writing, and the Bennington Low-Residency MFA Program. Her poetry has been published and reviewed in The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, LA Review of Books, and Publisher’s Weekly. Her poems have been translated into Russian, Spanish, Mongolian, French, and Urdu.
Joshua Zelesnick‘s poetry collection, Insert Coin (Finishing Line Press, 2025) was a finalist for the Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize at Conduit Books and Ephemera and the Trio Award at Trio House Press. Cherub Poems, his chapbook, was published with Bonfire Books in 2019. His poetry and prose have appeared widely in magazines and journals including Diagram, The Texas Review, Jubilat, Juked, Labor Notes, and Counterpunch. He’s currently working on a poetry book titled Very Beautifully, Suddenly. He lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his loving partner and kids in a garden co-housing community. With friends, he helps host the Bonfire music and reading series.
pvkvsv (pah•kah'•sah) is a producer, curator and an open format DJ who leans into anything with a solid groove. Drawing from his eclectic production inspirations, you can expect anything from trippy experimental sounds to hard-hitting breaks. In the past few years he has performed live improvised soundscape pieces for both the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh’s Performance Series and with Soy Sos & STAYCEE PEARL dance project at Kelly Strayhorn Alloy Studios. pvkvsv was also selected as a Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting’s Artist in Residency via 91.3 WYEP/ 90.5 WESA.
Being a self-taught producer, creating music was one of the few ways for him to examine and express himself. As a co-founder of Pittsburgh Open Decks, a monthly event where aspiring and experienced DJs can sign up to perform on flagship CDJs with no restriction on genre or experience level, pvkvsv aims to create more avenues for those who may lack a formal musical education to express themselves and build upon their own interest in music
Limited seating. Kids welcome! Snacks Welcome! RSVP on BONFIRE's FB event page (though seating is first come, first served). Check out Guillermo Parra's blog on Best American Poetry about the Bonfire Series!