115. Reading the City
February 16 to 22
Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in NYC.
If you’ve being swept up in the Wuthering Heights fervor then head to the 92nd Street Y where the New Yorker takes it on for a live podcast recording, or hit up the Community Bookstore’s Book Club which is discussing the heady classic on Wednesday. Also this week, a particularly stellar lineup at Pete’s and a conversation about a new collection of Toni Morrison’s lectures, available for the first time.
As ever, get in touch with events I should have on my radar (details on how to submit are here), and please share the love with your bookish friends!
Monday, February 16
LAUNCH | Dan Simon: Ashland
Dan Simon, the founder and editor-in-chief of Seven Stories Press, presents his debut novel Ashland—a deeply moving family story unfolding in richly evocative prose and a poetic portrayal of a town in decline during the final decades of the American century—in conversation with Sarah McNally, the owner of McNally Jackson Books. Dan’s Brooklyn launch will be on Wednesday at Greenlight Bookstore with writer Sarah Wang.
$5, redeemable in-store; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
READING | Heather Ann Thompson: Fear and Fury
A reading and conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning Heather Ann Thompson about her recently launched book, Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage, in conversation with law, education, and social justice expert Yaseen Eldik.
Free; 7.30pm; Book Club Bar, 197 East 3rd Street, Manhattan
Tuesday, February 17
LAUNCH | Grant Ginder: So Old, So Young
Grant Ginder (The People We Hate at the Wedding) launches his new novel So Old, So Young—part love story, part tragic comedy, Ginder’s resonant novel is a story about the growing pains of the Millennial generation, and a celebration of how love can shift, stumble, and grow into something bigger than we ever could have imagined. In conversation with Jenny Jackson (Pineapple Street). Wine reception to follow.
Free; 7.30-8.30pm; Greenlight bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
TALK | Being a Black Writer in the 21st Century
Erin E. Adams (Jackal) and Sidik Fofana (Stories from the Tenants Downstairs ) discuss writing, identity, and building Black characters and Black worlds with authenticity. Q&A to follow.
Free, with registration; 7-8pm; Park Slope Library, 431 6th Ave, Brooklyn
TALK | Svetlana Satchkova: The Undead: A Novel of Modern Russia
Join the Harriman Institute for a book talk by Svetlana Satchkova about her debut novel The Undead: A Novel of Modern Russia. In this darkly funny and emotionally resonant novel of contemporary Russia, a young filmmaker unexpectedly finds herself targeted by an authoritarian regime—despite her best efforts to stay out of politics. Moderated by Professor and Chair, Department of Slavic Languages, Mark Lipovetsky.
Free, with registration; 6.30-7.30pm; International Affairs Building, Columbia University, 420 W. 118 St. Manhattan
LAUNCH | Oliver Munday: Head of Household
Oliver Munday (Don’t Sleep: The Urgent Messages of Oliver Munday) launches Head of Household—a powerful, singular collection of short stories depicting the evolving role of fatherhood in contemporary society—in conversation with Amanda Hess, critic at large for The New York Times. Oliver’s Brooklyn launch is at Books Are Magic on Wednesday 18th with Sidik Fofana (Stories from the Tenants Downstairs).
$5, redeemable in-store; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
Wednesday, February 18
LAUNCH | The Novels of Toni Morrison and Language as Liberation
Toni Morrison’s lectures on American literature and racial imagination, now available for the first time, have never been more necessary. The New Yorker’s poetry editor Kevin Young, novelist Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, writer Sasha Bonét, and poet Reginald Dwayne Betts come together for a conversation that breaks open the taboos about race in American literature—and a celebration of her new collection, Language as Liberation: Reflections on the American Canon.
From $30; 8pm; 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, Manhattan
SERIES | Reading 101
It’s the third installment of Reading 101, with readers Chloe Texier-Rose, Vrinda Jagota, actor and playwright David Rosenberg, Harris Lahti (Foreclosure Gothic), and poet Kathleen Radigan. Jonathan Grandma (translator of the forthcoming Superstars) DJs, with book publicist Alexis Nowicki and poet & podcast producer Maria Robins-Somerville hosting.
Free, with RSVP; 7pm; Night Club 101, Manhattan
SERIES | Lit Out Loud: BHM Edition
A live literary forum where award-winning audiobook narrators and actors bring a range of diverse titles to life. In honor of Black History Month, they’re celebrating the work of pioneer and trailblazer Zora Neale Hurston. Join actor and audiobook narrator Khaya Fraites for a reading of two classic Hurston short stories.
Free; 7-9pm; Saint James Libations, 269 Stanhope St, Manhattan
Thursday, February 19
SERIES | Les Bleus Literary Salon
Delighted to hear Les Bleus Literary Salon is back after a brief hiatus, with host Paige McGreevy welcoming readers Kiran Bath (Instructions for Banno), Roohi Choudhry (Outside Women), Jake Deluca, and Deena ElGenaidi (Dust Settles North). RSVP to lesbleusnyc@gmail.com.
Free, with RSVP; 7pm; Gowanus, address on RSVP
LIVE | Wuthering Heights Through the Ages: A Live Recording of The New Yorker’s Critics at Large
Join Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz, the hosts of the New Yorker podcast Critics at Large, for a conversation about the long afterlife of one the greatest love stories of all time, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, timed for the release of Emerald Fennell’s new cinematic adaptation.
From $50; 7pm; 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, Manhattan
SALON | Pete’s Reading Series
Pete’s welcomes Aria Aber (Good Girl), Grace Byron (Herculine), Rebecca Novack (Murder Bimbo), and Issa Quincy (Absence) to the stage. Stick around afterward for a seasonal beverage and to get your book(s) signed, with trusty hosts Brian Gresko and Temim Fruchter.
Free; 7.30pm; Pete’s Candy Store, 709 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn
LAUNCH | Bernie for Burlington: A Vermont Celebration
Pioneer Works and The New York Review of Books host the official launch of Dan Chiasson’s Bernie for Burlington—an epic account of the early days and rise of the young Bernie Sanders, in a bygone time and place that find, in the New York City of 2026, their thrilling sequel. Featuring a conversation with Dan Chiasson and Jamaica Kincaid moderated by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, with music and special performances from members of the Bread & Puppet Theater.
$24.30; doors, 7pm; Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn
OPEN MIC | Open Book
Becka Dots hosts the monthly open mic, this time with kerry cullen (House of Beth) as the featured guest author. Sign-up to read between 7pm and 7.45pm.
Free; 8pm; Crystal Lake, 647 Grand St, Brooklyn
Friday, February 20
PANEL | Black Women in Publishing Panel
Liz’s Book Bar hosts an insightful panel on what it’s like to work in publishing, how to land a job, and how to make change in the industry. Join Jordan Hill Forney (Marketing Manager at Penguin Random House), Sade Collier (Publicity Assistant with Knopf), and Hiab Debessai (Editorial Assistant with One World) as they discuss how they landed their jobs, what their roles are like, where the industry is headed, and how we can continue to make change for Black people in publishing. Q&A to follow.
$11.49; 7-8pm; Liz’s Book Bar, 315 Smith Street, Brooklyn
SALON | Words and Music
This month, Words and Music, founded by Sam Rappaport, is hosted in someone’s home, and invites readers Hannah Donigan, julia vassallo, Laura Galindo, and
Gideon Leek, with guest host Emily Irvin. BYOB.
Free, with RSVP; doors, 8pm; 54 Knickerbocker Ave, Brooklyn
TALK | On the Black Panther Party with Dr. Robyn Spencer
Lit Club NYC welcomes Dr. Robyn C. Spencer for a discussion centered on her acclaimed book The Revolution Has Come: Black Power, Gender, and the Black Panther Party in Oakland. Drawing on interviews with rank-and-file members, archival research, and FBI files, Spencer reframes the Black Panther Party not as a top-down movement driven solely by its leaders, but as a living, evolving organization shaped by hundreds of young people coming into political consciousness. Hosted by Outlandish.
$45, including book and wine; 7-8.30pm; Outlandish, 722 Franklin Ave, Brooklyn
Sunday, February 22
SERIES | Sunday Salon
Ghosts, grudges, and glittering accidents flicker through the work of guests Cortney Lamar Charleston (It’s Important I Remember), Laura Cresté (In the Good Years), Michael Lowenthal (Place Envy), Svetlana Satchkova (The Undead: A Novel of Modern Russia), and Claire W. Zhang. And DJ DubSix spins.
Free; 5pm.; Von Bar, 3 Bleecker Street, Manhattan
SERIES | Sunday Stories
With Molly Dektar (The Ash Family), Jenzo DuQue, Margaret Luni, Sarah Osit, and Gwyn Sise. Hosted by Emily Neuberger (A Tender Thing) and Manuela Aronofsky.
$5, suggested donation; 6-8pm; Lunita Loft, 576 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn
This post was written by a human. Please check all details before attending.
I’m a Brooklyn-based journalist and author. My debut novel Amphibian is out now. My first book, No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run followed my childhood as the daughter of an international pot smuggler and federal fugitive. I’m here and here on Instagram.