Poets Maryam Ala Amjadi (Iran), Rogelio Saunders (Cuba) and Nikola Madzirov (Macedonia), all current residents in the International Writing Program, participated in the recent Jazz Poetry Concert in Pittsburgh. The poets teamed up with jazz sax player Oliver Lake and his quintet and the Flux Quartet to create a night that evoked "a tighter focus on the poetry and a more intimate relationship with the music in the crowded auditorium."

"I've never read my poems that way before," Madzirov said. "It was a totally new thing for me." The event's theme was centered around the question "What Is Home?" and featured many international and regional writers, including former US Poet Laureate Gerald Stern. 

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