82. Reading the City
June 9 to 15
Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC.
Melissa Febos is in town to launch her new book The Dry Season; Yrsa Daley-Ward celebrates her first foray into fiction; and Jonathan Parks-Ramage discusses his new eco-thriller with Coco Mellors. Also, a Pride party at Center for Fiction and a marathon all-day reading of Mrs. Dalloway.
As ever, please share the love with your bookish friends!
Monday, June 9
Melissa Febos: The Dry Season
, the national bestselling author of Girlhood, celebrates the release of The Dry Season—an examination of the solitude, freedoms, and feminist heroes she discovered during a year of celibacy and a wise and transformative look at relationships and self-knowledge—in conversation with Leslie Jamison (Splinters). (Melissa’s Manhattan book launch at The Strand is sold out.)
$39.20, with book; 7-8.30pm; Public Records, Sound Room, 233 Butler Street Brooklyn
Yrsa Daley-Ward: The Catch
(The Terrible) presents The Catch—a kaleidoscopic multiverse of daughterhood and mother-want, the novel explores the sacrifices that women must make for self-actualization—in conversation with Zakiya Dalia Harris (The Other Black Girl).
Free, with RSVP; 7-8.30pm; Brooklyn Heights Library, 286 Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn
Franklin Park Reading Series
Launching its summer season, Franklin Park welcomes fiction writers (Zeal), Jeanne Thornton (A/S/L), Paula Bomer (The Stalker), Essie Chambers (Swift River), and Kat Tang (Five-Star Stranger) and poet (True Mistakes). Hosted by Penina Roth, take a shot at winning the readers' latest books in the free raffle.
Free; 8-10pm; 766 Franklin Avenue, 618 St Johns Pl, Brooklyn
Author Panel: “Writing Midlife”
An author event featuring conversation and readings from (Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo), Hillary Jordan (Mudbound), Joanna Hershon (St. Ivo), and , the founder of Zibby Media, moderated byAlysia Reiner and produced by Brooke Berman of Ramona at Midlife.
Free, with RSVP; 8-9pm; Book Club Bar, 197 East 3rd Street, Manhattan
Edward St. Aubyn with Adam Gopnik: Parallel Lines
Edward St. Aubyn, author of the Patrick Melrose novels, launches his new novel, Parallel Lines—a profound exploration of fate, morality, and the cascading consequences of our choices at every stage of our lives—in conversation with The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik.
From $50, including signed copy of the book; 7pm; 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, Manhattan
Tuesday, June 10
Must Love Memoir
A monthly reading series dedicated to telling personal stories, hosted by , this month celebrates its two-year birthday with an incredible line-up of writers including (My Salinger Year, and The Fifth Passenger, forthcoming!), (The True Happiness Company), (First in the Family), (Love is a Burning Thing), and .
Free; 7.30pm; Jake's Dilemma, Oak Cellar Room, 430 Amsterdam Avenue, New York
Rob Franklin: Great Black Hope
Rob Franklin presents Great Black Hope—a gripping, elegant debut novel about a young Black man caught between worlds of race and class, glamour and tragedy, a friend’s mysterious death and his own arrest, from an electrifying new voice—in conversation with Katie Kitamura (Audition), with a special stage reading by Jaboukie Young-White.
$35, including a book and drink voucher; PUBLIC Hotel, 215 Chrystie St, Manhattan
Shared Stories: Blind Book Swap
is partnering with the —a literary salon for creative writers—for a blind book exchange, involving wrapping up a book that is meaningful to you with a note and exchanging it with another person at the event based on instinct. Love how random this sounds. Food and drinks available for purchase.$19; 6-8.30pm EST, Apt 5, 157 Ludlow Street, Manhattan
Seriously Entertaining “Either/Or”
House of SpeakEasy's storytelling series where writers riff informally, dinner-theater-style, on the evening’s theme, this time “Either/Or.” Featuring poet Joan Larkin (Old Stranger, Blue Hanuman), Chyana Marie Sage (Soft as Bones), John Seabrook (The Spinach King: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty), and Laurie Woolever (Care and Feeding and Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography).
From $18; 7pm; Joe’s Pub, The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street
Wednesday, June 11
Patchwork Literary Salon
Curated and hosted by , bringing together authors across genres and stages in their careers, Patchwork’s Pride month event welcomes Alejandro Heredia (Loca), (Heretic: A Memoir and the great newsletter ), (Fragments of Wasted Devotion), and Olivia Wolfgang-Smith (Glassworks).
Free, but RSVP appreciated; 7pm; SISTERS, 900 Fulton St., Brooklyn
Jonathan Parks-Ramage: It’s Not the End of the World
Jonathan Parks-Ramage (Yes, Daddy) celebrates the launch of It’s Not the End of the World—a terrifying climate thriller, a vicious takedown of the uber-wealthy, and a queer family saga that isn’t afraid to punch back—in conversation with Coco Mellors (Blue Sisters).
From $5, redeemable in-store; 7-9pm; Powerhouse Arena, 28 Adams Street, Brooklyn
Jonathan Gluck: An Exercise in Uncertainty
Jonathan Gluck launches his latest An Exercise in Uncertainty—in this thought-provoking memoir, an award-winning journalist explores the chaos, doubt, and search for meaning that come with staying one step ahead of cancer for decades.
Free; 6-7.30pm; The Corner Bookstore, 1313 Madison Avenue, New York
John Gregory Dunne's Vegas Launch Party with Stephanie Danler and McNally Editions
McNally Editions celebrates the reissue of John Gregory Dunne's neglected classic of first-person writing, Vegas—a mordant, deadpan, grotesque tale that blurs the line between autobiography and fiction, confession and reportage. (Bittersweet), who penned the foreword to the new edition, joins to discuss. If you purchase the book, you'll receive a 20% discount on drinks at the lovely bar at Anaïs.
Free; 6.30pm; Anaïs, 196 Bergen St. Brooklyn
Thursday, June 12
ALL PRIDE, NO PREJUDICE! A Literary LGBTQ+ Celebration
A literary Pride celebration and book fair from Center for Fiction, featuring short readings from celebrate LGBTQ+ voices in literature, book signings, mingling and drinks, co-hosted by (Where There Was Fire) and Isle McElroy (People Collide). Writers include: Lydi Conklin (Songs of No Provenance); Emma Copley Eisenberg (Housemates); Rob Franklin (Great Black Hope); Dylin Hardcastle (A Language of Limbs); Jonathan Parks-Ramage (It’s Not the End of the World); Joe Westmoreland (Tramps Like Us); and more.
$10; 6-8pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, and livestreamed
175 Years of Harper's Magazine
Celebrate 175 years of Harper's! Writers, editors, and friends of the magazine will gather to toast the publication of this special anniversary issue and enjoy short readings by contributors to its pages. With Harmony Holiday, John Jeremiah Sullivan, and Jonathon Sturgeon.
$5 redeemable in-store, RSVP required; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
Epiphany's Fete 2025
Join Epiphany Magazine for its annual fete, a glamorous evening of live music, hors d'oeuvres, an open bar with literary-themed cocktails, raffles and auctions. The Honored Guests are Mahogany L. Browne (Black Girl Magic) and Emily Kirven of READ 718. Ticket price goes toward support Epiphany’s continued work. Cocktail attire.
From $40; 6-10pm; The Urbane Arts Club, 1016 Beverley Road Brooklyn
The Common’s 15th Anniversary Party
The Common is celebrating 15 years. Support its mission, while enjoying an evening of refreshments, conversation, and mingling. The party will feature “This is the Place,” a panel discussion between authors Xochitl Gonzalez (Anita de Monte Laughs Last), (The Float Test), and (Leave the World Behind), with Leigh Newman (Nobody Gets Out Alive) moderating.
From $40; Arthur L. Carter Journalism School NYU, 20 Cooper Square, Manhattan
Saturday, June 14
Books and Burlesque
Celebrate Pride month with LGBTQ+ writers and performers at Books & Burlesque, featuring Sierra Greer (Annie Bot), Samantha Mann (Dyke Delusions: Essays and Observations), (I Leave It Up to You), (The Lilac People), and Paul Lisicky (Song So Wild and Blue: A Life With the Music of Joni Mitchell). Each author has been paired with a burlesque or drag performer who will be creating new acts inspired by the books, starring Tabby Twitch, Nina Divina, Antonio Amour and Diva LaMarr. Produced and hosted by Fortune Cookie.
$30.08; 9-11.30pm; Caveat, 21 A Clinton Street, Manhattan
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway at 100: A Marathon Reading and Screening
In a special event coinciding with the date on which the novel takes place—and the hundredth anniversary of its publication—hear a group of writers pay tribute to Woolf’s masterpiece with a marathon reading of Mrs. Dalloway in its entirety, followed by a screening of The Hours. Ticketholders are welcome to come and go throughout the day. Readers include Jiayang Fan, Jenny Offill, Francine Prose, Katie Roiphe, Sarah Ruhl, Melissa Broder, Heidi Julavits, Susan Choi, Adelle Waldman and others.
From $30; 12-10pm; 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, Manhattan
Sunday, June 15
Lampblack Reading Series
The second season of the Lampblack Reading Series—from The Lampblack Literary Foundation—returns, featuring Soraya Palmer (The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts), Rich Benjamin (Talk to Me: Lessons from a Family Forged by History), and (Field Theories).
Free, RSVP; 4pm; Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), 10 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
NB. Please check all details before attending, the fact checker went awol.
I’m a Brooklyn-based journalist and author. My debut novel Amphibian is out now from Ig, as well as Virago in the UK, and forthcoming from dtv in Germany. My first book, No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run (St. Martin’s Press, 2018) followed my childhood as the daughter of an international pot smuggler and federal fugitive. I’m here and here on Instagram. Get in touch with any bookish events you’d like me to include!