@jessicamanack.bsky.social
Pittsburgh word-wrangler, mom, Hollins grad. Author of GASTROMYTHOLOGY (2024). Development editor at Belt Magazine. Marketing & Communications for Carnegie Mellon Dept. of English.
Pinned
Chicago is one of my favorite cities, and I'm so glad to be able to read there this November at An Inconvenient Hour! Join us on the 15th -- plenty of time before heading to a show or other evening activities.
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
I was happy to share a book I've read and enjoyed this month over at the Pittsburgh Review of Books! What's the last book you read that you'd recommend?
This week, our staff and columnists share some of what they've been reading and enjoying lately. What would you add to this list as a recent must-read?
pghrev.com/some-of-our-...
pghrev.com/some-of-our-...
Some of Our Favorite Things - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Ed Simon, Editor-in-Chief:
pghrev.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:43 PM
I was happy to share a book I've read and enjoyed this month over at the Pittsburgh Review of Books! What's the last book you read that you'd recommend?
Thanks for the shoutout! It's going to be a great anthology. Pre-order here: sheilanagigblog.com/sheila-na-gi...
November 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Thanks for the shoutout! It's going to be a great anthology. Pre-order here: sheilanagigblog.com/sheila-na-gi...
Reposted
“Why should she call you? Because you failed the LSAT 15 years ago? Mama, I’m calling 911.”
Read "Group Chat" by @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social, an excerpt from the anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU: An Unruly Anthology of Black Humor, ed. Damon Young (Penguin Random House). pghrev.com/group-chat/
Read "Group Chat" by @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social, an excerpt from the anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU: An Unruly Anthology of Black Humor, ed. Damon Young (Penguin Random House). pghrev.com/group-chat/
Group Chat - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Mama (thAt lADy) texts the group chat she shares with her daughters, Ayana (yAnA bAnA) and monique.
pghrev.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:14 PM
“Why should she call you? Because you failed the LSAT 15 years ago? Mama, I’m calling 911.”
Read "Group Chat" by @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social, an excerpt from the anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU: An Unruly Anthology of Black Humor, ed. Damon Young (Penguin Random House). pghrev.com/group-chat/
Read "Group Chat" by @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social, an excerpt from the anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU: An Unruly Anthology of Black Humor, ed. Damon Young (Penguin Random House). pghrev.com/group-chat/
Thanks so much to @sundresspub.bsky.social for featuring GASTROMYTHOLOGY in their feature The Wardrobe's Best Dressed! Read the title poem here: sundressblog.com/2025/11/10/t...
The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: Gastromythology by Jessica Manack - The Sundress Blog
This selection, chosen by guest editor Shira Haus, is from Gastromythology by Jessica Manack (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2024). Gastromythology The day after you leave, I realize that I am starving, and ...
sundressblog.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Thanks so much to @sundresspub.bsky.social for featuring GASTROMYTHOLOGY in their feature The Wardrobe's Best Dressed! Read the title poem here: sundressblog.com/2025/11/10/t...
Reposted
I have this book and it's great! Factsheet 5 opened my teenaged mind like pretty much nothing else. Support small publishing and get a copy! ⬇️ boingboing.net/2025/10/28/n...
New book documents the golden age of zine publishing from 1982 - 1998
Zinelandia collects 115 zine covers from 1982-1998, documenting underground publishing during the Factsheet Five era.
boingboing.net
November 1, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I have this book and it's great! Factsheet 5 opened my teenaged mind like pretty much nothing else. Support small publishing and get a copy! ⬇️ boingboing.net/2025/10/28/n...
Reposted
Chicago is one of my favorite cities, and I'm so glad to be able to read there this November at An Inconvenient Hour! Join us on the 15th -- plenty of time before heading to a show or other evening activities.
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
October 14, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Chicago is one of my favorite cities, and I'm so glad to be able to read there this November at An Inconvenient Hour! Join us on the 15th -- plenty of time before heading to a show or other evening activities.
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
I have this book and it's great! Factsheet 5 opened my teenaged mind like pretty much nothing else. Support small publishing and get a copy! ⬇️ boingboing.net/2025/10/28/n...
New book documents the golden age of zine publishing from 1982 - 1998
Zinelandia collects 115 zine covers from 1982-1998, documenting underground publishing during the Factsheet Five era.
boingboing.net
November 1, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I have this book and it's great! Factsheet 5 opened my teenaged mind like pretty much nothing else. Support small publishing and get a copy! ⬇️ boingboing.net/2025/10/28/n...
Reposted
The Return of Kiran Desai: Aakanksha Agarwal interviews the Booker Prize–winning author, whose long-awaited novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny marks a triumphant return after two decades. pghrev.com/the-return-o...
The Return of Kiran Desai - Pittsburgh Review of Books
When Kiran Desai won the Man Booker Prize in 2006 for The Inheritance of Loss, she was thirty-five, the youngest woman ever to take home the award at the time
pghrev.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:08 PM
The Return of Kiran Desai: Aakanksha Agarwal interviews the Booker Prize–winning author, whose long-awaited novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny marks a triumphant return after two decades. pghrev.com/the-return-o...
Reposted
ATTENTION: @penparentis.bsky.social is in 7th place to win an Anthem Community Voice Award! 👏 Let's show up for this organization that supports parent writers - it only takes a couple of moments to vote: celebrate.anthemawards.com/PublicVoting... #AnthemAwards
YOU can amplify the voices that spark global change
Join me in celebrating the impact of this Anthem Awards finalist.
celebrate.anthemawards.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:50 PM
ATTENTION: @penparentis.bsky.social is in 7th place to win an Anthem Community Voice Award! 👏 Let's show up for this organization that supports parent writers - it only takes a couple of moments to vote: celebrate.anthemawards.com/PublicVoting... #AnthemAwards
Reposted
I'm excited to visit Colorado for the first time a month from today to share my work at the Reading Den series! Please join us to hear a variety of voices, emerging to established.
📚 Fort Greene Bar - 321 E 45th Ave.
📆 Wednesday, October 29
🕰️ 7 pm
📚 Fort Greene Bar - 321 E 45th Ave.
📆 Wednesday, October 29
🕰️ 7 pm
September 29, 2025 at 4:18 PM
I'm excited to visit Colorado for the first time a month from today to share my work at the Reading Den series! Please join us to hear a variety of voices, emerging to established.
📚 Fort Greene Bar - 321 E 45th Ave.
📆 Wednesday, October 29
🕰️ 7 pm
📚 Fort Greene Bar - 321 E 45th Ave.
📆 Wednesday, October 29
🕰️ 7 pm
Reposted
"The pleasure of the Lake has the power to 'blow up boredom like a balloon.' Lavin’s commitment to the water shows us how, these days, joy is a radical act."
@natmija.bsky.social on the #poetry of @maudlavin.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/diving-deep-...
@natmija.bsky.social on the #poetry of @maudlavin.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/diving-deep-...
Diving Deep: On Poet Maud Lavin’s "Swim Lessons" - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Maud Lavin, known for acclaimed titles such as Cut with the Kitchen Knife: The Weimar Photomontages of Hannah Höch (Yale UP, named a New York Times Notable
pghrev.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:18 PM
"The pleasure of the Lake has the power to 'blow up boredom like a balloon.' Lavin’s commitment to the water shows us how, these days, joy is a radical act."
@natmija.bsky.social on the #poetry of @maudlavin.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/diving-deep-...
@natmija.bsky.social on the #poetry of @maudlavin.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/diving-deep-...
ATTENTION: @penparentis.bsky.social is in 7th place to win an Anthem Community Voice Award! 👏 Let's show up for this organization that supports parent writers - it only takes a couple of moments to vote: celebrate.anthemawards.com/PublicVoting... #AnthemAwards
YOU can amplify the voices that spark global change
Join me in celebrating the impact of this Anthem Awards finalist.
celebrate.anthemawards.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:50 PM
ATTENTION: @penparentis.bsky.social is in 7th place to win an Anthem Community Voice Award! 👏 Let's show up for this organization that supports parent writers - it only takes a couple of moments to vote: celebrate.anthemawards.com/PublicVoting... #AnthemAwards
Thank you to Caroline Eliza and Sundress Reads for reading and reviewing my #poetry book!
In this week's #Sundress Reads, Caroline Eliza reads and reviews Jessica Manack’s debut poetry collection, Gastromythology, available now from Sheila-Na-Gig Editions! sundressblog.com/2025/10/09/s...
Sundress Reads: Review of Gastromythology - The Sundress Blog
Jessica Manack’s Gastromythology (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2024) is an astonishing debut that redefines hunger and girlhood. Each of this poetry collection’s three sections has a theme: being fed, resi...
sundressblog.com
October 20, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Thank you to Caroline Eliza and Sundress Reads for reading and reviewing my #poetry book!
"In the wilds of the antipoetic is where Ochester makes his home." Thank you to @kcollins1974.bsky.social for this meaty exploration of the Pittsburgh school of #poetry.
A celebration of Ed Ochester’s life and legacy reveals how a poet from Queens transformed Pittsburgh’s literary scene. By @kcollins1974.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/king-cool-ed...
pghrev.com/king-cool-ed...
King Cool: Ed Ochester and The Pittsburgh School of Poetry - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Only a handful of Saturdays ago I found myself in the awkward and somewhat surreal position of being at a crowded party and having to squeeze through a
pghrev.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:29 PM
"In the wilds of the antipoetic is where Ochester makes his home." Thank you to @kcollins1974.bsky.social for this meaty exploration of the Pittsburgh school of #poetry.
Chicago is one of my favorite cities, and I'm so glad to be able to read there this November at An Inconvenient Hour! Join us on the 15th -- plenty of time before heading to a show or other evening activities.
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
October 14, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Chicago is one of my favorite cities, and I'm so glad to be able to read there this November at An Inconvenient Hour! Join us on the 15th -- plenty of time before heading to a show or other evening activities.
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
📚 Metropolis Cafe - 1039 W Granville Ave
📆 Saturday, November 15
🕰️ 5:00 pm sharp!
Pittsburgh: if you're starting to think about holiday gifts for this year, I know that Stay Gold Books has recently restocked GASTROMYTHOLOGY. I have copies too!
Thanks so much to Emma Riva over at Table Magazine for including GASTROMYTHOLOGY on her holiday books roundup! So many great new #Pittsburgh publications! Do you put books under the tree? pittsburgh.tablemagazine.com/blog/pittsbu...
These Books by Pittsburgh Authors Make Unique Holiday Gifts
Consider skipping the BookTok recommendations this year and looking to Pittsburgh authors in your own community.
pittsburgh.tablemagazine.com
October 12, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Pittsburgh: if you're starting to think about holiday gifts for this year, I know that Stay Gold Books has recently restocked GASTROMYTHOLOGY. I have copies too!
Reposted
In 1947, some Hollywood stars including Henry Fonda stood up to anti-communist witch hunts.
Now, Jane Fonda and artists like Viola Davis, Pedro Pascal and Billie Eilish are reviving their organization — the Committee for the First Amendment — to defend free speech again.
buff.ly/B79gBQX #polisky
Now, Jane Fonda and artists like Viola Davis, Pedro Pascal and Billie Eilish are reviving their organization — the Committee for the First Amendment — to defend free speech again.
buff.ly/B79gBQX #polisky
Jane Fonda, other stars, revive the Committee for the First Amendment – a group that emerged when the anti-communist panic came for Hollywood
Even after the original group fizzled, many of its members were able to keep making films with progressive messages.
buff.ly
October 8, 2025 at 11:02 PM
In 1947, some Hollywood stars including Henry Fonda stood up to anti-communist witch hunts.
Now, Jane Fonda and artists like Viola Davis, Pedro Pascal and Billie Eilish are reviving their organization — the Committee for the First Amendment — to defend free speech again.
buff.ly/B79gBQX #polisky
Now, Jane Fonda and artists like Viola Davis, Pedro Pascal and Billie Eilish are reviving their organization — the Committee for the First Amendment — to defend free speech again.
buff.ly/B79gBQX #polisky
I'm excited to visit Colorado for the first time a month from today to share my work at the Reading Den series! Please join us to hear a variety of voices, emerging to established.
📚 Fort Greene Bar - 321 E 45th Ave.
📆 Wednesday, October 29
🕰️ 7 pm
📚 Fort Greene Bar - 321 E 45th Ave.
📆 Wednesday, October 29
🕰️ 7 pm
September 29, 2025 at 4:18 PM
I'm excited to visit Colorado for the first time a month from today to share my work at the Reading Den series! Please join us to hear a variety of voices, emerging to established.
📚 Fort Greene Bar - 321 E 45th Ave.
📆 Wednesday, October 29
🕰️ 7 pm
📚 Fort Greene Bar - 321 E 45th Ave.
📆 Wednesday, October 29
🕰️ 7 pm
Reposted
“Secrecy is the greenhouse in which addiction blooms, flourishes, and metastasizes.”
Sharon Dilworth talked with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the new book ALL THE WAY TO THE RIVER, in advance of her 9/29 appearance with @pghartslectures.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/talking-abou...
Sharon Dilworth talked with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the new book ALL THE WAY TO THE RIVER, in advance of her 9/29 appearance with @pghartslectures.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/talking-abou...
Talking about Memoir with Elizabeth Gilbert - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Many of the millions – and there are millions – who've read Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir Eat, Pray, Love did so with a great deal of envy. They envied the way
pghrev.com
September 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM
“Secrecy is the greenhouse in which addiction blooms, flourishes, and metastasizes.”
Sharon Dilworth talked with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the new book ALL THE WAY TO THE RIVER, in advance of her 9/29 appearance with @pghartslectures.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/talking-abou...
Sharon Dilworth talked with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the new book ALL THE WAY TO THE RIVER, in advance of her 9/29 appearance with @pghartslectures.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/talking-abou...
Reposted
Capturing the Story Before it is Lost - a Career Salon for Literary Parents, Livecast Tue, Sep 9, 2025 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite #JoinUs #share #writerscommunity #writing #online #writing #parentingdonewrite #writercommunity #parentwriter #writerparent #events #readatpenparentis
September 4, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Capturing the Story Before it is Lost - a Career Salon for Literary Parents, Livecast Tue, Sep 9, 2025 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite #JoinUs #share #writerscommunity #writing #online #writing #parentingdonewrite #writercommunity #parentwriter #writerparent #events #readatpenparentis
Reposted
“More than in the subject matter we publish, or literally where we’re headquartered, the 'Pittsburgh' in The Pittsburgh Review of Books is a matter of mentality, of perspective...”
We're live! Read a message from our founder and Editor-in-Chief, Ed Simon.
pghrev.com/the-foundry-...
We're live! Read a message from our founder and Editor-in-Chief, Ed Simon.
pghrev.com/the-foundry-...
A New Magazine of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Review of Books
The first printing-press in Pittsburgh was purchased by the aspiring newspaper editors John Scull and Joseph Hall from a manufacturer in Philadelphia; it took
pghrev.com
September 3, 2025 at 2:37 PM
“More than in the subject matter we publish, or literally where we’re headquartered, the 'Pittsburgh' in The Pittsburgh Review of Books is a matter of mentality, of perspective...”
We're live! Read a message from our founder and Editor-in-Chief, Ed Simon.
pghrev.com/the-foundry-...
We're live! Read a message from our founder and Editor-in-Chief, Ed Simon.
pghrev.com/the-foundry-...
I'm so sorry to report that I'm ill and will not be in attendance tomorrow, but I hope that folks still come out to support Ben Kline!
I’m excited to visit Lexington KY to read at the wonderful series Poetry at the /'tāb(ə)l/.
I hear the open mic is ROLLICKING and you must be early to claim one of the spots. Will be great to hear a variety of voices. Also: PIZZA.
📚 Kenwick Table - 201 Owsley Ave.
📆 Wednesday, Sept. 3
🕰️ 6 - 8 pm
I hear the open mic is ROLLICKING and you must be early to claim one of the spots. Will be great to hear a variety of voices. Also: PIZZA.
📚 Kenwick Table - 201 Owsley Ave.
📆 Wednesday, Sept. 3
🕰️ 6 - 8 pm
September 2, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I'm so sorry to report that I'm ill and will not be in attendance tomorrow, but I hope that folks still come out to support Ben Kline!
Reposted
"[Simon] wants PRoB to be 'kind of a way in which Pittsburgh writers can be presented to the world and a way in which world writers can be presented to Pittsburgh.'
Thanks to Bill O'Driscoll at @wesa.fm for this feature in advance of our 9/3 launch! www.wesa.fm/arts-culture...
Thanks to Bill O'Driscoll at @wesa.fm for this feature in advance of our 9/3 launch! www.wesa.fm/arts-culture...
Pittsburgh Review of Books offers a new outlet for comment and criticism
Founding editor Ed Simon discusses the brand-new Pittsburgh Review of Books.
www.wesa.fm
September 2, 2025 at 6:10 PM
"[Simon] wants PRoB to be 'kind of a way in which Pittsburgh writers can be presented to the world and a way in which world writers can be presented to Pittsburgh.'
Thanks to Bill O'Driscoll at @wesa.fm for this feature in advance of our 9/3 launch! www.wesa.fm/arts-culture...
Thanks to Bill O'Driscoll at @wesa.fm for this feature in advance of our 9/3 launch! www.wesa.fm/arts-culture...
Reposted
I’m excited to visit Lexington KY to read at the wonderful series Poetry at the /'tāb(ə)l/.
I hear the open mic is ROLLICKING and you must be early to claim one of the spots. Will be great to hear a variety of voices. Also: PIZZA.
📚 Kenwick Table - 201 Owsley Ave.
📆 Wednesday, Sept. 3
🕰️ 6 - 8 pm
I hear the open mic is ROLLICKING and you must be early to claim one of the spots. Will be great to hear a variety of voices. Also: PIZZA.
📚 Kenwick Table - 201 Owsley Ave.
📆 Wednesday, Sept. 3
🕰️ 6 - 8 pm
August 11, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I’m excited to visit Lexington KY to read at the wonderful series Poetry at the /'tāb(ə)l/.
I hear the open mic is ROLLICKING and you must be early to claim one of the spots. Will be great to hear a variety of voices. Also: PIZZA.
📚 Kenwick Table - 201 Owsley Ave.
📆 Wednesday, Sept. 3
🕰️ 6 - 8 pm
I hear the open mic is ROLLICKING and you must be early to claim one of the spots. Will be great to hear a variety of voices. Also: PIZZA.
📚 Kenwick Table - 201 Owsley Ave.
📆 Wednesday, Sept. 3
🕰️ 6 - 8 pm
Reposted
If anyone is planning a John Waters-themed reading for #awp26 in Baltimore, I have a piece I would like to read. I hope there are multiple John Waters-themed readings being planned.
July 23, 2025 at 5:00 PM
If anyone is planning a John Waters-themed reading for #awp26 in Baltimore, I have a piece I would like to read. I hope there are multiple John Waters-themed readings being planned.