Rita Wilson is a Pittsburgh-area writer, visual artist, and educator whose work spans literary fiction, creative nonfiction, painting, and public storytelling. She holds an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from Carlow University and brings that same depth of craft to everything she creates.

Her novel When the Only Light is the Moon (2024) has taken her from intimate book club conversations to stages at Barnes & Noble, Penguin Bookshop, and literary festivals across Pennsylvania and Florida. Her short story A Whisper in the Dark appears in Fatal Introductions (Sunbury Press, June 2025), and her work has been published in Rune, Riverspeak, Voices from the Attic, the 100 Lives Anthology, Wisdom of the Crone, and wolfmatters.org. Her debut, Greek Lessons: A Cultural Odyssey, established her voice as a writer drawn to culture, memory, and the places that shape us.

Rita serves as Non-Fiction Editor for the Northern Appalachia Review and is a former Co-Director of the Writing Conference of Northern Appalachia, where she presented at the 2025 Writers on the Prairie Conference. She is a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, and her paintings have earned awards and jury selections in both local and national exhibitions.

An engaging and sought-after speaker, Rita is available for author talks, book club visits, writing workshops, panel discussions, and literary event judging — and she brings the same warmth and rigor to a workshop room that she brings to the page. She tailors every appearance — from a university guest lecture to a community book fair — to the audience in front of her.