Pittsburgh Noir

About the Contributors

K. C. Constantine has had seventeen novels published by four different publishers. Publishers, retailers, and reviewers persist in their opinion that these are “mysteries” because the main characters are mostly cops and sometimes one or two characters get arrested. He’s given up trying to tell them otherwise. He’s also had two stories published in anthologies edited by Otto Penzler. His story included here is his third and probably his last because stories are hard and the pay is bad.

Carlos Antonio Delgado earned his MFA from the University of Pittsburgh and won the 2008 Turow-Kinder Fiction Award for the first two chapters of his novella, The Voice and Arms of God. He has placed fiction in The Ankeny Briefcase and in Relief Journal’s first annual Best of Relief anthology. He lives and works in Los Angeles — at Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute — but he misses his little brick house in the Morningside neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

Rebecca Drake’s debut thriller, Don’t Be Afraid, came out in September 2006 from Pinnacle. The Next Killing followed in September 2007 and was selected by four national book clubs including the Literary Guild. Her third novel, The Dead Place, came out in September 2008 and was an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA) best seller. A former journalist and native New Yorker, Drake currently lives in Pittsburgh.

Kathleen George is a professor of theatre at the University of Pittsburgh. Her fourth novel, The Odds, was an Edgar Award finalist, and her previous work includes the novels Taken, Fallen, and Afterimage — all set in Pittsburgh and featuring Detective Richard Christie. She’s also written books about theatre, the most recent of which is Narrative and Drama, and she has directed many plays.

Kathryn Miller Haines is the author of two World War II — set mystery series: the Rosie Winter series for HarperCollins, and a young adult series for Roaring Brook Press, the first of which, The Girl Is Murder, is due out in 2011. A Texas native, she transplanted to Pittsburgh in 1994 and instantly developed a love for french fries and cole slaw on her sandwiches. She has lived in the Wilkinsburg neighborhood for the past fourteen years.

Terrance Hayes is the 2010 recipient of the National Book Award in poetry. His most recent collection is Light-head. His other books are Wind in a Box, Muscular Music, and Hip Logic. His honors include four Best American Poetry selections, a Whiting Writers Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is a professor of creative writing at Carnegie Mellon University and lives in Pittsburgh.

Aubrey Hirsch’s stories, essays, and poems have appeared in several magazines including Third Coast, Hobart, Vestal Review, and the Minnetonka Review. Recent honors include a special mention as a finalist in Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open and a nomination for a Pushcart Prize. She came to Pittsburgh for her MFA in creative writing and stayed for the bridges and cheese fries. She currently teaches creative writing in the MFA program at Chatham University.

Paul Lee was born in Hollywood, California. He attended UC Berkeley as an undergrad and earned his MFA from the University of Pittsburgh while living in Bloomfield and Friendship and sometimes a couch in the South Side. Currently he lives in Queens and is working on a novel.

Tom Lipinski is a native of Pittsburgh and creator of the Carroll Dorsey mystery series. A Shamus Award winner, he has worked as a social worker, jail administrator, in auto repossessions, and as an insurance investigator. He holds an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh and a MA from Slippery Rock University, and is presently the chair of the English and theatre arts department at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

Nancy Martin is the author of forty-eight novels in the mystery, suspense, historical, and romance genres. Nominated for the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery of 2002, How to Murder a Millionaire won the RT award for Best First Mystery. With the 2009 publication of Our Lady of Immaculate Deception from Minotaur, she launched a new Pittsburgh-based mystery series featuring Roxy Abruzzo. Martin currently lives in Pittsburgh and is a founding member of Pennwriters.

Hilary Masters moved into Pittsburgh’s Mexican War Streets in 1984 when he joined the writing program at Carnegie Mellon University. His tenth novel, Post, will be published in 2011. In 2003 the American Academy of Arts and Letters granted his work its Award for Literature. Recently, the Independent Publishers Association awarded Masters its bronze medal for the literary short story.

Reginald McKnight is the author of The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas, White Boys, Moustapha’s Eclipse, He Sleeps, and I Get on the Bus. His many awards include the PEN/ Hemingway Special Citation, a Pushcart Prize, an O. Henry Award, the Kenyon Review Award for Literary Excellence, a Whiting Writers’ Award, the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Stewart O’Nan was born and raised and lives in Pittsburgh. His story collection, In the Walled City, received the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, and his first novel, Snow Angels, set in Butler, was recently made into a critically acclaimed film. Several of his dozen novels take place in Pittsburgh, including Everyday People (East Liberty) and the forthcoming Emily, Alone (Highland Park).

Lila Shaara is the author of Every Secret Thing and The Fortune Teller’s Daughter. Trained as an anthropologist, she has held many jobs, including (in no particular order) disc jockey, radio talk show producer, secretary, bartender, waitress, “crew member” at a fast food chain, and high school teacher. Shaara teaches anthropology at a local university, and resides in Pittsburgh with her husband, two children, and many foundling pets.