What’s Your (Human) Story?: Pitt-Greensburg Celebrates the Power of Storytelling in the Age of Robots

Writers, poets, visual storytellers, podcasters and more will celebrate the life-affirming, human power of stories Wednesday, Dec. 3 from 6-8 p.m. in McKenna 131.

The event, “What’s Your (Human) Story? A Storytelling Showcase” will bring together students and faculty storytellers to share their work. The event is free and open to the public.

“Our students love many writers, but one who is dear to them is John Green,” says Lori Jakiela, professor of Creative & Professional Writing. “John Green tells young writers to read a lot and write a lot, but he says the most important thing is to tell stories and listen closely to the stories of others. Stories, the uniquely human tradition, mean so much.”

Jakiela and Dave Newman, assistant professor of Creative & Professional Writing, organized and will host the event. Jakiela is the author of eight books, including her 2025 essay collection, “All Skate: True Tales from Middle Life” (Roadside Press). Newman is the author of nine books, most recently the 2025 story collection, “She Throws Herself Forward to Stop the Fall” (Roadside Press).

Together, the award-winning writers, who are also married and can be seen on the PBS Pittsburgh documentary “People Who Write Books Around Here,” helm the Pitt-Greensburg Creative & Professional Writing Program. Newman will be hosting the showcase as master of ceremonies, while Jakiela will be writing free typewriter poems for anyone who needs one.

“Storytelling is, most of all, a way to bring us together in a world that feels bent on tearing us apart,” Jakiela says. “Writing a poem for someone, listening to their stories and what’s in their hearts, feels communal and healing.”

The way Pitt-Greensburg builds that sense of community for writers is something Newman, a distinguished alumnus who graduated from Pitt-Greensburg in the 90s, knows a lot about.

“As a working-class kid who dreamed of being a writer, I found my home at Pitt-Greensburg a long time ago,” Newman says. “The sense of community, the way our writers care about and support one another. It’s incredible. Events like this storytellers’ showcase build upon Pitt-Greensburg’s tradition of nurturing young writers and dreamers like me.”

The line-up for the evening includes:

Creative Nonfiction Writers: Ali Brown, Phoenix Bryant, Will McCabe, Addi Patrick
Digital Storytellers: Peyton Hause, Ashlie Keogh, Jordan Shuster
Podcasters (Part of the Pitt-Greensburg Route 30 Podcast Project): Ali Brown and Shannon Grace
Poets:
Fiction Writers: