This week, cartographers Stentor Danielson and Andy Woodruff discuss mapmaking and telling stories with maps, moderated by David Weimer, the Robert A. Holland Curator of Maps at the Newberry Library. Explore cartographic writing through Belt Publishing’s “Cities in 50 Maps” series. Danielson is the author of Pittsburgh in 50 Maps, while Woodruff is the author of Boston in 50 Maps. Woodruff also served as cartographer for Cincinnati in 50 Maps.
This program was part of the 2026 American Writers Festival. Co-hosted by the American Writers Museum and Chicago Public Library, the American Writers Festival is a free literary event featuring in-depth conversations with diverse writers from across genres and backgrounds. This conversation took place June 7, 2026 and was recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center.
About Boston in 50 Maps by Andy Woodruff
Covering four distinct categories (“The Making of Boston,” “The Lay of the Land,” “Getting Around,” and “People and Culture”), Andy Woodruff’s newly created, original maps investigate all facets of Boston’s past and present. In unraveling the many complex layers that comprise the “real” Boston, some explorations are expected: sports championships, universities, and pothole complaints. Others, such as the former cow paths that predated downtown streets, are decidedly more hidden. Entertaining and informative in equal parts, Boston in 50 Maps brings The Hub’s history, urban plans, and lore to life.
About Pittsburgh in 50 Maps by Stentor Danielson
Whether you call it the Steel City, the City of Bridges, City of Champions, Hell with the Lid Off, or even the Paris of Appalachia, Pittsburgh’s distinctive character is undeniable. Pittsburgh in 50 Maps considers the boundaries of the city’s 90 distinct neighborhoods (plus Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood), the legacy of the steel industry, and how immigration continues to shape the city. You’ll also find the areas with the highest concentrations of bike lanes, supermarkets, tree cover, and fiberglass dinosaurs. Each colorful map offers a new perspective on one of America’s most consistently surprising cities and the people who live here.
About the speakers:
STENTOR DANIELSON has been a map nerd since reading The Lord of the Rings in third grade. After spending their childhood in both western and eastern Pennsylvania, they earned a BA in Geography from Colgate University and a PhD in Geography from Clark University. Since 2009 they have lived in (or just outside) Pittsburgh while teaching geography and environmental studies at Slippery Rock University. Since 2015, they have run Mapsburgh, an online shop making paper cutout street maps and fantasy-style maps of real places. They currently share a house with one human partner, two feline bosses, and a classic mid-century Pittsburgh pink tile bathroom.
DAVID WEIMER is the Robert A. Holland Curator of Maps and Director of the Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography at the Newberry. He previously served as Librarian for Cartographic Collections and Learning at the Harvard Map Collection. Weimer has devoted his professional and scholarly work to guiding people into the history of maps and highlighting the interdisciplinary potential of maps. In 2020, he co-curated an exhibition on the tactile reading of texts that earned him the Biennial Disability History Association’s Public Disability History Award.
ANDY WOODRUFF is a freelance cartographer, creating everything from digital data visualization to printed hiking maps, who newly claims the title of “author” thanks to his work on map books for Belt Publishing.