December 18, 2015

Dear Friend,

A year ago we celebrated our 10th anniversary with an evening of readings that reunited all five of the exiled writers who have lived on Sampsonia Way.

Each of the writers was introduced by and read along with a neighbor or a Pittsburgh artist—someone who had developed an especially close relationship with them. Yaghoub Yadali paired with Paul Johnson, Israel Centeno with Gina Mazza and Henry Doktorski, Khet Mar with Steve Sokol, Horacio Castellanos Moya with Karla Boos, and Huang Xiang with Toi Derricotte.

The Alphabet City Tent was filled to the brim and cozy, with outdoor heaters taking the edge off the autumn chill. It was a joyful evening, where everyone felt a personal connection. And it reminded me just how different our Pittsburgh grassroots model is from all other cities of asylum in the world, which are institutionally-based.

City of Asylum Pittsburgh began in 2004 as a small group of friends, who joined together to provide a safe house for a writer exiled under threat of persecution. Just a few weeks ago, at the end of our 10th anniversary year, the Director of the International Cities of Refuge Network—Helge Lunde—called Pittsburgh the “model for the world” and invited us to become the Network’s U.S. headquarters.

How did it happen, that a tiny program on Sampsonia Way, an alley on the Northside, grew to become the model for the world?

--please turn page--

To grow our exiled writer sanctuary program,

we have received a $50,000 challenge grant.

If we raise $50,000 by January 15,

we will receive a “match” of $50,000. It is “all or nothing.”

Please help us raise $100,000 and meet our goal of making

Pittsburgh the largest sanctuary for persecuted writers in the world.

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We didn’t become “model for the world” because we had more resources than other cities: governments and universities fund all other programs. What we in Pittsburgh have is our people—many individuals who help the writers feel part of a community. From the very first, professionals like dentist Owen Cantor and lawyer Robert Whitehill and physician Francis Solano and authors like Judy Robinson, Joan Bauer, Ben Lerner, and Chuck Kinder November 21, 2004: COA begins pitched in. But the welcoming soon extended throughout the neighborhood and Pittsburgh.

As the writers met people and became more “at home,” programs began to grow from the interactions—Jazz Poetry Concert in 2005, salon readings in 2006, Writers-in-the-Gardens in 2007, Sampsonia Way online in 2009,

Cave Canem and Exiled Voices in 2010, ”I Don’t Know What I’d Do, If I Couldn’t Speak My Mind” in 2011, and in 2014 Digital Sanctuaries, Summer on Sampsonia, and temporary public artworks like River of Words.

And these programs led to more community involvement. When we put out a call for bicycles for Khet Mar’s family, the call was answered in 24 hours!

Each year has seen more volunteers, more engaged writers, and a growing number of donors. After our 10th year anniversary last year, I thought, “Nothing can ever top this.”

A year later, having just concluded our first “House and Wine Tour,” I feel very differently. I realize that we have hardly begun and that the best is yet to come. So much has happened in 2015 that it feels like all the first ten years all rolled into one!

Programming and attendance have soared: Just two years ago, in 2013, we presented 13 events. In 2015, we presented 58 different events—a 450% increase, with attendance over 4900.

In 2015 we also created the Alphabet Reading Garden. And construction started on redevelopment of the historic Masonic Building, the future home of Alphabet City. It includes spaces for our readings, concerts, and writing workshops, a bookstore, and Casellula restaurant of New York. It will open next summer!

And its impact will be huge: Kevin Acklin, Chairman of the URA, predicted that “Alphabet City will be the cultural and social hub of the community and will spur revitalization of the Federal North area.”

Giving a safe place to exiled writers to write as part of a community has changed the lives of the writers we protect. It has also inspired and transformed our city and enriched our own lives.

In the words of Mayor Peduto, when it was announced that Pittsburgh would become the national headquarters for the city of refuge movement, “We have something amazing happening in Pittsburgh, by being able to bring people in from around the world….and not only that, but enhancing our own city through art.“

By making a connection between writers, readers, and neighbors…by giving voice...City of Asylum Pittsburgh has become the “model for the world.”

“Building conectedness through residencies and artistic programming” is why the City of Refuge from Växjö, Sweden, visited Sampsonia Way for four days in September, along with five government officials. And it is why a delegation from Las Vegas—the original U.S. program—visited in November. “It’s very clear to us,” they said, “What’s happening here is a model that is applicable all around the world.”

In becoming the U.S. headquarters for the International Cities of Refuge Network, we will assist other cities in adapting our

model to their local conditions.

But more importantly, our goal is to continue to grow our exiled writer sanctuary program on Sampsonia Way, which is already the largest in the world. It is the heart of City of Asylum. It drives our mission and underpins all other programs.

The most unique aspect of our Pittsburgh program is the commitment we make to the writers. And this commitment is only made possible by our grassroots model. It is also what leads to the writers’ success.

We commit to helping the writers build long-term stability and a path to financial

independence, while also continuing to write.

All cities provide a year or two of emergency relief— a place to live, a living stipend, and

medical benefits. In Pittsburgh we also provide legal assistance, translations and

publication, rent-free housing beyond the initial two years, seeks scholarships for the

writers’ children….whatever it takes for the long-term, so the writer is not silenced.

—please turn page—

City of Asylum Pittsburgh has “managed from the beginning to conceive of itself as a grassroots operation, as something that was part of the community-at-large and created by the community-at-large, rather than something attached to a specific institution and governed to a greater or lesser degree by that institution… I’ve just been so impressed over the years with how you’ve grown without losing focus.”

--10th Anniversary message, from author Russell Banks,

former president of the International Network of Cities of Asylum

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Knowing that we provide a stable place to build a new life—not just a

temporary respite from danger—makes all the difference. It makes it

possible for a writer to do more than tread water as a way of life.

Of necessity institutionally-funded cities offer cookie-cutter programs.

Our Pittsburgh program is tailored to the individual and focused on the

long term situation of a writer in exile. This is only possible in a grass-

roots funded program. And it is why your support is so important to us.

100% of the funding for our exiled writers-in-residence comes from

individuals, like you and me. This was true when Huang Xiang arrived

here in 2004 and it is still true today in 2014. And the lion’s share of

individual donations comes now, during our annual campaign.

Without your support, there simply could not be a City of Asylum

Pittsburgh exiled writer program….let alone the best program in the

world.

This year’s campaign is critically important:

In 2016, we plan to increase the number of exiled writers-in-residence. The number of applications for sanctuary has been increasing every

year. In the past month, we have received more inquiries than ever

before. More housing is ready now. But we need to raise additional

funds to support the new writer, once here.

We have received a $50,000 challenge grant: If we can raise $50,000 by January 15, we receive the $50,000 challenge.

Individual suuport of our annual campaign has been generous and vital to

sustaining our exiled writer program. I now ask for and will greatly appreci-

ate your help.

Sincerely,

Henry Reese, Co-founder

P. S. We have another writer—a poet-- waiting to come to Pittsburgh. He is

now facing death threats in his home country. The threats are posted publicly

on the Facebook page of an organization associated with the recent murder of

several other writers.

P.P.S. In the past week I also have received requests for help from an Iraqi

author under threat and two authors under dire circumstances so delicate that

no details can be made public, plus an inquiry from an intermediary hoping to

get a writer out of prison in a Middle Eastern country. The level of threat to

writers is greater than I have ever seen.