Kelsey Ford
Creator of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Bookish in the ’Burgh
On her website, Kelsey Ford introduces herself as a feminist fangirl, contemporary fantasy author “and firm believer in all things magic.” Her wizardry includes building enthusiasm for reading among young adults in a world of screen teens.
Ms. Ford, 28, of Bellevue, is the creator, senior programming manager and director of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Bookish in the ’Burgh — think of it as fantasyland for teen lovers of young adult books. Bookish launched in March with seven authors. In 2020, the festival will bring 32 writers to Pittsburgh.
The avid reader from Cochranton, Crawford County, said that growing up, she was a lot like the teen ambassadors who flock to the festival. These days she reads between 150 and 200 books a year, “partly because I love reading so much and partly to stay current with what’s happening in the publishing industry.”
Among her Bookish duties, Ms. Ford curates the reading list, recruits the authors and gets resources into the hands of Pittsburgh educators, mentors and librarians. The 2020 festival, which is scheduled for March 27-28, includes its first Educators Day.
Book choices come from reading and recommendations from publicists, publishers, bookstores and teens.
“It’s a good mix of debut authors and authors who have been at this for a long time, like Siobhan Vivian in Pittsburgh,” Ms. Ford said of her picks, “and making sure the stories are diverse and inclusive and timely.”
Ms. Ford’s journey to the Trust came through Florida Southern College and Bath Spa University in the U.K., where she earned her master’s degree. She went on to work with the Association of Arts Administration Educators. She also serves on the board of Pittsburgh’s Handmade Arcade and the steering committee of the Pittsburgh Emerging Arts Leaders Network.
At a September event to kick-start the 2020 festival, a wall in the Trust Arts Education Center was dotted with headshots of the 32 authors coming in March.
“It shows,” she said, “that there is all this national buzz — publishers want to send authors to Pittsburgh because they are seeing this exciting literary boom in our city and a lot of enthusiasm in our teens.”