Pitt-Greensburg Literary and Online Publishing Students to Release Two New Books by Award-Winning Pittsburgh Authors

The Pitt-Greensburg Literary and Online Publishing class plans to publish books by two award-winning authors, Heather McNaugher and Jane McCafferty, this spring. 

McCafferty is the author of the award-winning story collection “Director of the World & Other Stories,” and the novels “One Heart” and “First You Try Everything,”which was an Oprah Book Club pick. McNaugher, a poet and LGBTQ author, has published two full-length collections, “Second-Order Desire” and “Systems of Hideouts,” as well as two poetry chapbooks.

Dave Newman, assistant professor of Creative and Professional Writing, leads the Literary and Online Publishing class. He selected McCafferty and McNaugher both for their talent and their proximity to Pitt-Greensburg. 

“We wanted to let our students get to know and connect with the vibrant Pittsburgh writing community,” Newman said. “This is a great way to expose student writers to Pittsburgh writers and give our students a unique chance to learn from super-talented, established authors.”

 Both McCafferty and McNaugher will submit new book manuscripts, which will be edited, designed, and published by students in the publishing course. The students will also read both authors’ previous books and will write their own poems and stories inspired by McNaugher and McCafferty. 

“It gives students insights into the publishing process. Students get to edit, design, and promote the books,” Newman said. 

Students in the class, which meets on Wednesday evenings this semester, have had their own publishing successes. Caitlin Cruser and McKenzie Bonar have both had poems published in prestigious international magazines such as “The New York Quarterly Review” and “Trailer Park Quarterly.” 

“Our students are talented writers in their own right,” Newman said. “We’re very proud of them.”

Last spring, Newman’s class helped two other acclaimed authors publish new chapbooks. The two authors were Celeste Gainey, an award-winning poet, and Adam Matcho, a graduate of Pitt-Greensburg’s Creative and Professional Writing Program. 

“I love the idea of students contributing and helping other authors with their work,” Newman said. “That’s what building a literary community and being good literary citizens is all about.”