Dave Newman won the Pushcart Prize for his short story

A member of the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg faculty was recognized with two of the most prestigious prizes in American literature.

Dave Newman (UPG ’93, A&S ’96G, SOC WK ’13G), assistant professor of creative and professional writing, was awarded a Pushcart Prize for his story, “The Last Thing That Happened Before I Became A Med Tech.”

The Pushcart Prize, an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press, honors the best poetry, short fiction, essays or “literary whatnot” published by small presses during the previous year. Approximately 8,000 editors from around the world can submit up to six pieces for consideration.

“The chance of winning this prestigious literary award is well below 1%,” said John Prellwitz, chair of the Humanities Division at Pitt-Greensburg.

Newman also won the Rattle Readers’ Choice Award for his poem, “I’m Trying to Lead This Old-Timey Veteran.” He also was one of 10 finalists out of 5,169 submissions for the Rattle Poetry Prize. In the author’s note published with the poem, Newman wrote:

“In my late 30s, I went back to school and got a master’s degree in social work. I worked at the veterans hospital in Pittsburgh for years. It was a great environment, filled with really thoughtful employees and patients who appreciated the care. But, like most good things, it often fell apart. Working at the VA really amplified what I’ve always been interested in writing about — the joys and frustrations of daily living and the tax that takes on working folks.”

The author of 10 books, Newman most recently has published three full-length book collections: “Better Than the Best American Poetry” (Roadside Press, 2025), “How To Live Like Li Po In Pittsburgh” (J.New Books, 2024) and “She Throws Herself Forward to Stop the Fall” (Roadside Books, 2024).

“At Pitt-Greensburg, we are very proud of Professor Newman’s many literary contributions,” said President Robert Gregerson. “Receiving the Pushcart Prize and Rattle Readers’ Choice Award in the same year is an amazing recognition of the quality and impact of his work. Our students are very fortunate to learn from such an accomplished writer.”

Other highlights of Newman’s work include “The Slaughterhouse Poems” (White Gorilla Press, 2013), which was named one of the best books of the year by L Magazine. His poems, essays and stories have appeared in magazines and journals around the world, including Ambit, Tears In The Fence, Gulf Stream, Belt and Nerve Cowboy. He appeared in a PBS documentary about Pittsburgh writers narrated by Rick Sebak.

Newman, whose story, “He Never Loved You,” was optioned for a film, is the recipient of the 2024 Pitt-Greensburg Alumnus of Distinction Award, which acknowledges excellence among the campus’ alumni. His greatest passion, in addition to his own exploration of working-class topics and characters in his work, is to help working-class writers through workshops and mentoring. He has guided many Pittsburgh writers to book-length publications, including Sarah Shotland, Richard Gegick, Vessa Yankevitch and more.

He also serves as advisor to the Pendulum Literary Magazine and the Creative Writing Club. Among his on-campus projects is the Literary Publishing Class, which publishes chapbook-length books by award-winning national poets and writers, as well as the Voices reading series and the Pitt-Greensburg Writers Festival, which brings nationally acclaimed writers to campus for a weeklong celebration of writers and writing. The Writers Festival also provides an opportunity for student-writers to read their polished work in a public venue and in the company of these nationally acclaimed writers.

Newman is a resident of Trafford, Pennsylvania, with his wife, the writer and fellow Pitt-Greensburg faculty member Lori Jakiela.