Beyond the Page: A Celebration of Black Literature

Join us for a Black History Month literature panel discussion. On the panel will be Tahirah Walker, Ph.D, Lorena Amos, Bonita Penn, and Hannah Walker. 

Presented in collaboration with Lebo Coalition.

Tahirah Walker, Ph.D., is chair of the Department of Community Engagement and Leadership at Point Park University’s Rowland School of Business. She holds a doctorate in Communication and Rhetorical Studies.

As a writer and literary advocate, Walker is a two-time recipient of the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh award. Her work has been published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PublicSource, Taint Taint Taint Magazine, and Management Communication Quarterly, reflecting a voice that moves fluidly between creative, public, and academic spheres. She previously served on the board of Write Pittsburgh and is currently a member of the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures board.

At the heart of all her work is a love of books, music, and visual art. Tahirah hopes her contributions shine a light on the amazing everyday lives of Black women and girls.

Lorena Amos-Brock won a Pittsburgh Public School Literacy Champion Award. She is a former elementary and high school English teacher, also a Reading Specialist and a Literacy Coach. Her goal was always to inspire students to use reading and writing as tools for growth-- and as historical bookmarks. To endorse the power of reading, she formed book clubs-for teenage girls and women. She is the co-founder of the United Black Book Clubs of Pittsburgh, which meets at the Homewood Library. literary activities at the Homewood Library. She serves as the Historian for the Sub-verses Social Collective of Poetry.

Bonita Lee Penn, Managing Editor of Soul Pitt Quarterly Magazine, Madwomen in the Attic (Carlow University) poetry workshop facilitator, literary curator, and multi-media artist. She is the author of “When the Trees Finally Testify” and “Every Morning a Foot is Looking for My Neck,” and the award-winning anthology “Where We Stand: Poems of Black Resilience.” Her poems have appeared in “The Skinny Journal” and “The Massachusetts Review,” and other literary journals. Recent recipient of the Aggie Brose Award for excellence in Shaping Cultural Understanding.

An Obsidian Foundation Poetry Fellow and Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Fellow, Bonita received the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh grant in the production of her poetic stage work “Gospel in the Wake” (June 2025). She participated in the 2025 Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books (panelist and poet), organizes literary programs with the United Black Book Clubs of Pittsburgh, and served as Written Poetry Judge for the NAACP PA State ACT-SO Competition. She lives in Pittsburgh’s Manchester neighborhood and serves on the Board of Directors at Sweetwater Center for the Arts.

Hannah Walker is an emerging high school writer, poet, and artist who enjoys exploring the music and art scenes throughout Pittsburgh. She draws inspiration from many places—whether it's the summer music festivals, an August Wilson play, or the Charles “Teenie” Harris Galleries. As an SPQ Junior Editor of Youth Arts & Culture, she interviews rising talent about their experiences, aspirations, and advice for the next generation of Pittsburgh creatives.