Write on Site: Braddock

An intergenerational workshop in the historical setting of Braddock, PA. 

Part of the Write on Site Pop!Up series from Write Pittsburgh. For writers ages 13 and up.

About the workshop:

A hundred years ago, Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants built a synagogue, Agudath Achim, in the shadow of the US Steel plant in Braddock, then a lively and diverse working-class municipality, and a thriving Jewish community grew around it. But by the time the steel industry began to wane in the 1970s and 1980s, most Jews and other Central and East European immigrants left Braddock for Squirrel Hill and other thriving white neighborhoods. In 2015, as part of Braddock's revitalization efforts, the former synagogue was purchased by the Jewish-run software firm, Unicentric.

In this workshop, we will examine remembering culture—participating, forgetting, and feeling a sense of self in the context of the Jewish connection to race, place, industry, and class in the Pittsburgh region.

Note on logistics: 

• This workshop will take place outdoors in an empty lot between the old Agudath Achim building and the U.S. Steel plant. Please feel free to bring your own chair if you would like. Participants with mobility-specific disabilities are encouraged to contact info@writepittsburgh.com ahead of time so that we can adapt our plans to the needs of our writers.
• In the case of light rain, we will continue the workshop, so bring an umbrella or rain jacket if the weather looks drippy.
• In the case of thunderstorms or more severe weather, the workshop will be rescheduled and tickets will be refunded.

About your facilitator:

Dade Lemanski is a writer, historian, and nightlife worker. They have been a Writer in Residence at City Books and a Visiting Scholar at the Trans Archives at the University of Victoria, and they lead creative writing workshops for adults in the Allegheny County Jail and for teens in West Virginia. Their criticism and translations have appeared in In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies, Public Books, and City Paper, and they are currently at work on a book about Jewish poets in Appalachia.

Community agreement:

By registering and attending, you acknowledge that Write Pittsburgh provides an intentional writing community space. Anyone who uses hate speech, engages in disruptive behavior, or practices other behaviors determined to be antithetical to Write Pittsburgh's mission of amplifying voices, empowering writers, and building a strong writing community will be asked to leave the event immediately, without discussion and without refund.