Alona Williams and Marsha Timblin named City Books Writers-in-Residence
City Books is pleased to announce Alona Williams and Marsha Timblin as Writers-in-Residence from February 1-June 30, 2021. Alona Williams is a 2020 graduate of Chatham University. She has a BFA in Creative Writing with a Minor in Music. She has been published in 1839 Magazine, MoonStone Arts Center’s journal Philadelphia Says: Resisting Arrest, TENDER a Literary Anthology and Book of Spells: Evidence, The Minor Bird, The Pittsburgh Current, and has forthcoming work in The Pittsburgh Neighborhood Guidebook, and Femme Literati: A Mixtape II. She writes about the mundane, self-discovery, and freedom. Alona can be found on Twitter @xxnino_brownxx.
Marsha Timblin holds an MFA from Chatham University and her work has appeared in matchbook, Orange Blossom Review, The Hellebore, and Amethyst Review, among others. She writes fiction from her home near Pittsburgh, PA, where she lives with her husband, son, dog and mischievous kitten. She can be found on Twitter @MarshaLena.
Williams and Timblin will be offered dedicated writing space within City Books, a 40% discount on books & merchandise during the Residency, a City Books Reader’s Journal, and the opportunity to curate a virtual Resident’s Choice book shelf on Bookshop.org. In addition, they will each receive a $500 stipend from a One Northside Grant awarded to City Books by New Sun Rising in support of the City Books Writer-in-Residence program. Williams and Timblin were selected by Kim Rooney (高小荣), Fall 2020 Writer-in-Residence, and Arlan Hess, City Books’ owner.
The bookstore receives about a dozen applications from Pittsburgh-area writers every term and gives preference to writers for whom the space will have the most impact. Hess admits “The competition is challenging, and with COVID blurring the lines between home, work, and creative spaces, it’s getting even harder to determine who needs a windowless corner in a bookstore more than someone else.” During COVID, writers have the option to complete their Residency obligations from home.
Founded in 1984 on the South Side, City Books is now located at 908 Galveston Avenue in the Allegheny West neighborhood of the Northside. Committed to literature and the literary heritage of the region, City Books holds residency space for emerging, marginalized, and under-represented writers. The fall residency will be from July 1-Nov 30. Additional information about the City Books Writers Residency and application instructions are available at citybookspgh.com/residency.