As I mentioned in my introductory post, I’m working on a novel. It’s coming along, perhaps not as smoothly as I’d like, but I’m making steady progress. One thing that helps me step out of the solitary of being a writer is the writing group I belong to.

It’s one of the dozens of established writing groups in the city and it was started two years ago by alumni of the Pitt, CMUbooks and Carlow writing programs. One of the people in the group was a literature TA when I was an undergrad, and when I expressed an interest in writing a novel, he suggested I come with him to a few of their meetings. I did and instantly loved it. Everyone was really involved in helping each other accomplish their goals and providing good criticisms to help us along the way.

We had a meeting last night, and after we had finished reviewing someone else’s novel-in-progress, Jake (the TA who introduced me to the group) started talking about how his parents, who are both writers living and working in New York City, were really surprised to hear that Jake wanted to stay in Pittsburgh after graduation and work at getting a novel published. Everyone nodded their heads and rolled their eyes – same old, same old I guess.

But, really, it’s hard not to think of Pittsburgh as a writer’s city anymore. There are literary events going on all the time – at the college campuses, of course, but also in Lawrenceville, Uptown, the Hill, Regent Square. Pretty much anywhere you can think of, there’s a group of writers already established and helping newer writers find their way. And the outside world is noticing. There are more books published in the major book reviews (NY Times, Washington Post) that feature writers living in Pittsburgh than anywhere else. I think the low cost of living and the roots laid by the writers who started this thing out in the late 20th century really helped that out.

And now we, the young writers of Pittsburgh, get to reap that benefit. Sweet.