The Pitt Poetry Series at the University of Pittsburgh Press continues its tradition of publishing the finest contemporary poetry by announcing the forthcoming publication of the following collections:
✨Desire Path by Migwi Mwangi, winner of the 2026 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, selected by Terrance Hayes. (On sale September 8, 2026)
✨retrovirology by John Bonanni, winner of the 2025 Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, selected by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. (On Sale September 15, 2026)
✨The Decadent Movement by Laura Kolbe (On sale September 22, 2026)
✨Abider by Melissa Crowe. (On Sale September 22, 2026)
✨The Blue Eye of Earth by Beckian Fritz Goldberg. (On Sale September 29, 2026)
✨Rupture Anthem by Hera Naguib (On Sale October 6, 2026)
✨Capricorn in Flux by Elton Glaser (On Sale November 10, 2026)
Illuminating how North African communities reshaped spaces defined by colonial power
The City in the Shadow of the Shantytown: A Critical History of the Bidonville by Sheila Crane will be published on September 8th.
Architects, politicians, and planners have repeatedly framed shantytowns or slums as aberrant, unplanned developments that stand apart from the city proper, rather than integral components of the urban landscape with their own layered histories and often unrealized potentials. Describing a site as a bidonville––the francophone equivalent of the shantytown––positioned it as a foil to and catalyst for new architectural projects, anticipating and authorizing its targeting, control, and dispossession.
In this richly illustrated study, Sheila Crane charts the emergence of the bidonville, a term first consolidated in Casablanca following the establishment of the French Protectorate of Morocco in 1912 that was subsequently used to categorize and systematically target urban areas across Morocco, Algeria, and beyond—processes that continue to shape planning and urban landscapes today. Tracing significant episodes that extend into the post-independence period, Crane reveals how the bidonville became a potent artifact of the colonial city and a formative site for anticolonial thinking and action. Far from self-contained enclosures, sites deemed bidonvilles were shaped by dynamic human and non-human entanglements central to this book.
Sheila Crane is professor of architectural history at the University of Virginia.
Details and preorders are available on our website (#linkinbio)
Cover design by Alex Wolfe.
Rosario Murillo and the Fate of Nicaragua by Karen Kampwirth (on sale 10/13/26)
Rosario Murillo has been first lady of Nicaragua twice (1985–1990 and 2007–2017), vice president (2017–2025), and co-president (since February 2025). She also is a published poet who has been involved in Sandinista politics since the late 1960s. With her husband, Daniel Ortega, she was part of the movement that fought against the Somoza dictatorship and then against the Contra rebels. Particularly since returning to power in the twenty-first century, Ortega and Murillo have become increasingly authoritarian, ordering imprisonment, torture, and murder of their perceived opponents, which has pushed thousands into exile and caused millions to live in fear.
In this critical biography, Karen Kampwirth draws on interviews with those close to Murillo, archival sources, and Murillo’s own words to create a portrait of a woman who was willing to sacrifice her principles, family, and allies in her quest for power. Murillo’s story challenges many of our assumptions about womanhood and dictatorship. It is a cautionary tale of the female condition, and how, in their effort to push against that condition, some women make awful choices, with terrible consequences.
Karen Kampwirth is professor and the Robert W. Murphy Chair in Political Science at Knox College. She is the author of LGBTQ Politics in Nicaragua: Revolution, Dictatorship, and Social Movements.
Details and preorders are available on our website (#linkinbio)
Cover design by Alex Wolfe
Galley season is in full swing! Galleys are now available for our next Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner, Those Who Vanish by Patricia Grace King (on sale 9/1/26).
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Taking place during the decades-long civil conflict, Those Who Vanish follows the stories of Guatemalan citizens and North American expats set on a collision course by war.
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“Those Who Vanish doesn’t present us with easy answers but masterfully interrogates what it means to be lost and the often-blinding nature of self-discovery.“ - Quan Barry
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Physical galleys are available for reviewers and booksellers by emailing Lesley Rains @ [email protected]. Digital galleys are available on Netgalley and Edelweiss.
The Road to Relativity: A Historical Approach to Understanding Einstein’s Theory by Dan Siegel
Albert Einstein transformed our understanding of the universe—but he didn’t do it alone. The Road to Relativity traces the full arc of the relativity revolution, from the overlooked protorelativity period (1880–1905) through Einstein’s 1905 breakthrough and the long road to acceptance into the 1930s.
Dan Siegel explains the radical reconception of space, time, mass, and energy, along with the novel logic and structure that set Einstein’s work apart, bringing a clear understanding of relativity to readers without a background in physics. Retracing the steps taken by Einstein and his predecessors and followers, the author leads readers, step by step, to a full understanding of relativity. Vivid analogies and inventive expository strategies clarify difficult concepts such as time dilation, length contraction, and E = mc².
The Road to Relativity also reexamines Einstein’s intellectual precursors and the contested reception of his ideas, reshaping our view of one of science’s greatest revolutions and offering a modern, nuanced account of both its making and its meaning—one that highlights both Einstein’s singular insight and the collaborative groundwork that made it possible.
Dan Siegel is emeritus professor of the history of science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
On Sale November 10, 2026
Details and preorders now available on our website.
Cover design by Alex Wolfe
What a treat to have my poem "After Moving" read and explicated by @juanmorales579 on High Plains Public Radio! Public radio is a gift. Link to the recording and transcript in bio. "After Moving" is one of my favorite poems from No Longer at This Address, and I'm so grateful that Juan chose to feature it.
Series spotlight: INTERSECTIONS: Histories of the Environment, Science, and Technology in the Anthropocene
Intersections publishes theoretically robust and narrative-driven monographs as well as bold and cohesive edited volumes that illuminate productive synergies between history of technology, environmental history, and science and technology studies. The Intersections series explores in depth how the new natures of the Anthropocene have deep historical roots, entangled with knowledge, power, and technology.
Swipe through to see a few of the Intersections titles.
Use code 29INT40 at checkout to receive a 40% discount from May 1–May 31, 2026 on all available titles on the Intersections page on our website. Available titles in print as of May 31, 2026 are included on this sale. Additional details can be found at the #linkinbio
Wrapping up National Poetry Month by asking that all-important question: which Pitt Poetry Series poet are you??
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Take a screenshot to find out and share your results in the comments! The video goes fast!
#nationalpoetrymonth #pittpoetryseries
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✨COVER REVEAL✨
We’re thrilled to share the cover for Desire Path by Migwi Mwangi, winner of the 2026 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, selected by Terrance Hayes.
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Desire Path explores how everyday life, memory, history, and politics work against and toward each other across communities and national boundaries. This collection pleats numerous lives: a boy sent to the shops, a neighborhood thief, widows, gravediggers, debtors, and inheritors. There are multifoliate Englishes and silences, glimpses of music by icons such as Bi Kidude and Kanda Bongo Man. There is eros, storytelling, and haunting joy here.
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Cover art: Wangari Mathenge, Ascendants VI (Imperial Reckoning), 2020. Oil on canvas, 68 x 90 in. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California.
Cover design: Alex Wolfe
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Desire Path will be published on October 13, 2026. Details and preorders are available on our website.
