How the West Got Weird

Room: Tansky Family Commons, 1st Floor

Building: Hillman Library at University of Pittsburgh

Time: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Pre-registration: Closes on Thursday, 5/28, at 12 PM. Pre-registered attendees will receive priority seating. Walk-ins are welcome if capacity allows.

Books: After the presentation, attendees are welcome to purchase a book and/or get their book signed outside of the Tansky Family Commons.

Special Note: Registrants must be 18 years old or older or accompanied by a guardian for all programs at Hillman Library at the University of Pittsburgh.

Moderator: Joy Stancato

Description

Elizabeth Bear, Nicholas Belardes, Sheldon Costa, and Frederic S. Durbin discuss the different takes on the western and how weirdness shows up in each one. Adventure, murder, and survival in majestic landscapes mix with alchemy, strange creatures, steampunk, ghost trains, and cosmic horror.

Author Biographies

Frederic S. Durbin’s most recent novel, The Country Under Heaven, was named the Best Horror Novel of the Year by the New York Public Library. It received starred reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal. His novel A Green and Ancient Light was named a Reading List Honor Book by the American Library Association. He teaches creative writing to high-schoolers.

Sheldon Costa is an award-winning fiction writer who has been published in the Georgia Review, Conjunctions, Electric Literature, and other outlets. He holds an MFA from the Ohio State University and lives in rural Missouri with his wife and three cats. The Great Work is his debut novel.

Nicholas Belardes’s work often combines elements of literary, horror, and science fiction. The New York Times Book Review said his first book, The Deading “perfectly balances social critique, lyricism and ghastliness. It’s a claustrophobic mosaic of a novel, and an outstanding debut.” Belardes’s follow up, Ten Sleep (2025), blends elements of eco-horror with Western and Chicano fiction.

Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. She is the Hugo, Sturgeon, Locus, and Astounding Award winning author of over 30 novels and more than a hundred short stories. She lives in the Happy Valley of Massachusetts with her husband, bestselling fantasy author Scott Lynch, four cats, and two Icelandic horses.

For more information about the Pgh Book Festival, check out the website here.

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