What Is Scribble House?

In a few years, we plan to be a place where writers, illustrators, artists, and other scribblers can create, share their work, and get advice and inspiration.

Pittsburgh has fantastic literary and arts communities, but it's never had a ton of great venues for readings, spots to host a workshop, or public places where night owls can sit and create. After 2020, the options for all of those got even more limited, especially if you don't feel like going to a bar.

The idea for Scribble House was born from a desire to help reverse this trend. It will have open communal workspace that anyone can use during open hours (and that members will be able to access 24/7), along with classroom-style rooms for workshops and classes, a resource library, and a performance space equipped to host hybrid events and audiences.

The creative commmunities in the city now can be a bit insular. Part of our goal in providing this space is to encourage cross-polination between these groups, helping people from different disciplines and backgrounds to make new friends and collaboration partners.

Right now, all of this is still just an idea. Even though that physical space is probably a few years away, we're eager to start building our community. We'll be holding events every few months around the city as a kind of preview of the types of things we plan to host at Scribble House. Check out our events page if you want to see what we're planning next. And if you have anything you'd love to see from Scribble House, or any other feedback or questions for its founders, head over to our contact page and shoot us a message.

Who We Are

Liz Abeling is a writer living in Pittsburgh, PA and the creative non-fiction editor for After Happy Hour. You can find her work in The Fiddlehead, Bat City Review, and others.

Jess Simms is a freelance ghostwriter and fiction writer, and the managing editor of After Happy Hour. In 2023 their micro-chapbook, Shapeshifter Diaries, was published as part of Rinky Dink Press' 10th series. You can also find their short fiction in Fabula Press' 2022 Nivalis Anthology, HOOT!, and other publications. A musician in a former life, they hold a B.M. in saxophone performance from BGSU and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Chatham University. They write speculative fiction with a literary bent, and have weirdly strong opinions about genre.