Kelli Stevens Kane will conduct a reading and conversation series entitled “Big George’s Wylie Avenue: Wisdom of The Hill,” at four locations in the historic Hill District:
MAY 30: Opening Reading and Light Refreshments, Trinity AME Church.
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Kelli Stevens Kane
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JUNE 25: Monday, 5:30 pm, Kindness in The Hill Hill District Library, 2177 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh.
JULY 15: Sunday, Men and Women of Grace. Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1000 Bryn Mawr Rd.
AUGUST 16: Thursday, 6:30, Close As Family. Trinity A.M.E. Church, 2700 Wylie Ave.
Kane will read from her oral history manuscript, “Big George’s Wylie Avenue.” The manuscript celebrates the legacy of The Hill District in stories told by people who knew her late grandmother, Hill District matriarch Georgetta Holmes Stevens (aka Big George). Kane will encourage audience discussion on themes of family, community, and home.
Said Kane, “Big George used to visit funeral homes whether or not she knew the deceased person. In trying to figure out why, I managed to collect a treasure trove of stories about what made family and community strong in her era.”
Kane added, “We have August Wilson’s Hill; we have Teenie Harris’s Hill; and now we have this portrait of The Hill from a woman’s perspective.”
The series is free to the public. It will be videotaped, and is funded by the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Initiative of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.
Kane is a poet, playwright and oral historian. Kane’s literary works—an oral history manuscript, “Big George’s Wylie Avenue;” a play, “I Never Laughed So Much at a Funeral;” and a poetry manuscript, “Hallelujah Science”—represent four generations in her family, all rooted in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Kane is a 2011 August Wilson Center Fellow and a 2011 Cave Canem Fellow.
Kane reads nationally, including recent performances at the Cornelia Street Cafe and Bowery Poetry Club in New York City, The Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh, and TEDxWomen Pittsburgh.
(For more information visit www.kellistevenskane.com.)
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