City of Asylum
City of Asylum (more formally City of Asylum/Pittsburgh) is a nonprofit organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that helps writers exiled from their countries for their controversial writing.
City of Asylum's logo. | |
Alphabet City - City of Asylum's headquarters | |
| Formation | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Founders | R. Henry Reese, Diane Samuels |
| Type | Non-profit |
| Purpose | To provide sanctuary to endangered literary writers. |
| Headquarters | 40 W. North Ave Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 40.45562°N 80.007519°W |
Executive Director | Andrés Franco |
Budget | $1,100,000 |
Staff | 14 |
| Website | cityofasylum |
Exiled writers accepted to the organization's program receive two years of financial and medical support for their families and up to four years of free housing. The aid is intended to provide the writers time and means to seek resettlement and adjust to life in the United States.
Founded in 2004 by Henry Reese and Diane Samuels, the organization runs the Alphabet City venue, Sampsonia Way magazine, and Pittsburgh's Jazz Poetry Month. City of Asylum hosts more than 175 cultural and literary events every year which are free to the public.
In 2016, it became the U.S. headquarters for the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), which called the organization a “model for the world.” In 2017, the organization converted an old Masonic lodge into their main headquarters, called Alphabet City.