A Class Worth Taking Twice: Pitt-Greensburg’s Literary and Online Publishing Class Offers Real-Life Experience

Pitt-Greensburg’s Literary and Online Publishing class gives students the opportunity to publish books and provides an insight into the world of publishing. This semester students will be reissuing books, working with authors, and creating some of their own work. 

Dave Newman, assistant professor of Creative and Professional Writing, is the professor for the class. 

“[The course] is a really cool way to interact with other authors and other authors’ work in an intimate way and kind of see everything that goes into publishing,” Newman says. 

He explains that in the past, students published limited-edition chapbooks that were released for a short period of time. Currently, however, students are working towards a reissue of Joan Jobe Smith’s book, “Jehovah Jukebox.” 

“Jehovah Jukebox” was originally published in 1993 and is one of Smith’s 23 books of poetry and prose. The founding editor of both Pearl Magazine and The Bukowski Review, Smith’s work has been widely anthologized and she is a legendary West Coast poet and contemporary of such writers as Charles Bukowski, Gerald Locklin, John Fante and more. 

Students are learning to organize Smith’s manuscript with eight new poems that she has written for the reissue. They’re adding the new poems to the end of the book and figuring out what order to put them in that ties in best with the original pieces, Newman says. 

Students will then work towards publishing the book, press releases, and getting the work out there.

In addition to “Jehovah’s Jukebox,” the students are publishing a new chapbook of poems by Jim Ray Daniels, award-winning author of over 43 works of poetry, prose, and screenplays. Students will also assist in the launch of a first book of prose by Pittsburgh author Rebecca Jung, whose essay collection, “Home Leave,” is an account of her life as a third-culture kid growing up in the Congo, Turkey, Belgium, and more. 

“I think [the course] is a great way to learn about publishing, first and foremost, how books are made, how they reach an audience, and how they go online. You get some really practical experience,” Newman says. 

Pitt-Greensburg alum Caitlin Cruser previously took the class and enjoyed learning about and executing the publishing procedure.  

“I honestly had no idea how involved the publishing process was. It wasn’t just slapping pages together and calling it done. It was a real effort from us,” Cruser says. 

As a creative and professional writing major, she explains that she took every writing course that was offered at Pitt-Greensburg but had a particular interest in this one. 

“I was especially intrigued by the publishing class because I always saw publishing as a real career option. I thought it would be both interesting and practical to learn about literary publishing,” says Cruser, who most recently designed, edited, and typeset Jung’s “Home Leave.”  

 Moving forward, students will be working towards publishing other works and coordinating with authors, as well as working on some of their own pieces. 

“I think it’s a way for people to get out of their own heads in some ways. You know, you’re constantly thinking about your own personal reading, your own personal writing. Your focus is always you, you you. It’s looking at someone else’s life and work and getting inspiration from that,” Newman says. 

The class provides a lot of experiential publishing opportunities and is recommended to all students. 

“I would absolutely recommend this class both to writers and not-yet-writers. The class gives a peek into the publishing world while still including opportunities for writing workshops, making it a perfect choice for anyone who is wanting to get in touch with their creative side,” Cruser says. “I enjoyed the class so much, I took it two times. Class so nice, you gotta take it twice.”