PBS documentary producer Rick Sebak to conclude Pitt-Greensburg Writers Festival

Pitt-Greensburg has tapped public television documentary producer and narrator Rick Sebak to deliver the keynote speech Friday to conclude the school’s Writers Festival.

Sebak’s presentation, set for 8 p.m. in Ferguson Theater, is free and open to the public, as are all festival activities.

Pitt-Greensburg digital storytelling students Caitlin Cruser, Kaiden Congioli, Elijah Johnson and Misha Laity also will participate in Friday’s event, which will be followed by a wine, cheese and cake reception in the Smith Hall Lounge.

“No one tells the stories of Pittsburgh as deeply and with as much heart and joy as Rick Sebak,” said Lori Jakiela, a poet and English professor at Pitt-Greensburg.

A 1971 graduate of Bethel Park High School, Sebak has become known regionally for his Pittsburgh History Series of programs shown on WQED, as well as for such national PBS shows as “A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway.” He’s also produced programs about hot dogs and flea markets.

Jakiela will create poems on demand during daily Typewriter Poem sessions at 7:30 p.m. Sessions will be held Thursday in the Chamber Hall lobby and Friday in the Smith Hall reception room.

Jakiela is the author of “How Do You Like It Now, Gentlemen?: Poems At Mid-Life,” which won the 2021 Wicked Woman prize for poems that focus on a woman who ”broke the mold.” She organized the festival with Dave Newman, her husband and fellow instructor in Pitt-Greensburg’s Creative and Professional Writing program.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, Jane McCafferty, award-winning author of “First You Try Everything,” a novel about a woman’s attempt to save her marriage, and Heather McNaugher, author of the poetry volume “System of Hideouts,” will be featured during a Literary and Online Publishing Class Book Launch in the Chamber Hall Fireside Lounge. Student writers Rin Alford, Marina Lagattuta, McKenzie Bonar will read from their work.

Book sales and signings will be offered at a reception to follow.

“It’s important to remember that humans are natural-born storytellers and that writers, through their work, can show us that our lives matter,” Jakiela said. “By sharing stories, by reading books, we build empathy and understanding — two things that are so important, especially now.”