Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC.
This week we have launches from Gary Shteyngart, Helen Schulman, and Lawrence Burney, amongst others, as well as a panel discussion on Gen Z’s apparent sex recession and a poetry festival this weekend.
Also, I’ll be reading this Saturday at the Rogue Loon Reading Series on a roof deck in the Upper West Side. Come say hi!
And, if you’re a writer looking to dedicate time to your craft, our friends at the Writing Co-Lab are hosting a Summer Camp starting this Saturday (July 12th), offering a week of creative companionship and accountability, featuring generative classes and panels with writers including Hannah Bae, (Upcountry), Crystal Hana Kim (The Stone Home), , (You Must Go On: 30 Inspirations on Writing & Creativity), and (Animal Instinct), amongst others. And readers can get a 15% discount with code CAMP15!
As ever, get in touch with your upcoming events, and please share the love with your bookish friends.
Monday, July 7
LAUNCH: Michael Shaikh: The Last Sweet Bite
Brooklyn writer and human rights investigator Michael Shaikh presents The Last Sweet Bite: Stories and Recipes of Culinary Heritage Lost and Found—a combination of travel writing, memoir, and cookbook, highlighting the courageous persistence of people struggling to protect their food culture in the face of war, genocide, and violence—in conversation with activist Nimmi Gowrinathan (Radicalizing Her)
Free; 7.30pm; Greenlight bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
Tuesday, July 8
LAUNCH: Gary Shteyngart with Amor Towles: Vera, or Faith
(Super Sad True Love Story) launches his eagerly awaited new book, Vera, or Faith—a poignant, sharp-eyed, and bitterly funny tale of a family struggling to stay together in a country rapidly coming apart, told through the eyes of their wondrous ten-year-old daughter—in conversation with Amor Towles (Rules of Civility). (If you can’t make it, Shteyngart’s Brooklyn launch is on Thursday at Center for Fiction with Maria Semple).
$30; 7pm; 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, Manhattan
SALON: Must Love Memoir
A monthly reading series dedicated to telling true stories, hosted by and Hope Elizabeth Kidd, this month features Holly Mitchell (Mare's Nest), Samantha Mann (Dyke Delusions), (I’m Never Fine: Scenes and Spasms on Loss), , Carissa Chesanek (of the Sunday Salon), and .
Free; 7.30pm; Jake's Dilemma, Oak Cellar Room, 430 Amsterdam Avenue, New York
PANEL: Why Is Gen Z Having Less Sex?
Young Americans are having far less sex: One in four Gen Z adults have never had sex with another person. Are smartphones, social media and internet porn to blame? Is it the rising loneliness epidemic? What if people are too politically polarized to sleep together? And why should we even care if young people are getting laid? Carter Sherman, author of the new book The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation's Fight Over Its Future, will lead a panel discussion featuring writers Sam Cole (How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex), (Action: A Book About Sex), senior editor of PLAYBOY , and sex educator Justine Ang Fonte.
$5 redeemable in-store, RSVP required; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
LAUNCH: Helen Schulman: Fools For Love
Helen Schulman (This Beautiful Life) launches her new book, Fools For Love—a virtuosic, laugh-out-loud collection of stories about tangled romances of all shapes and sizes—in conversation with Cleyvis Natera (Neruda on the Park).
Free; 6-7.45pm; Rizzoli Books, 1133 Broadway, Manhattan
LAUNCH: Lawrence Burney: No Sense In Wishing
Writer and critic Lawrence Burney celebrates his first book, No Sense in Wishing—a personal and analytical look at Lawrence's home city of Baltimore, music from throughout the global Black diaspora, and the traditions that raised him—in conversation with multimedia creative Brandon Jinx Jenkins.
$5, redeemable in store; 6.30-8pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, Manhattan
TALK: Aymann Ismail in Conversation with Ramy Youssef
Slate magazine staff writer Aymann Ismail discusses his debut memoir, Becoming Baba: Fatherhood, Faith, and Finding Meaning in America Aymann Ismail—“a profound meditation on what it means to build a self and a family in an often unwelcoming land” (Junot Díaz)—with actor Ramy Youssef.
Free, with RSVP; 6-7.30pm; Brooklyn Heights Library, 286 Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn
Wednesday, July 9
PODCAST: URSA Live: A Night of Storytelling
A special, live recording of the Ursa podcasts, Short Fiction and Reckon True Stories, with hosts (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies), Dawnie Walton (The Final Revival of Opal & Nev), and Kiese Laymon (City Summer, Country Summer). They’ll be joined onstage by debut authors Lawrence Burney (No Sense in Wishing) and Carrie R. Moore (Make Your Way Home). A reception follows the event.
$25; 7-8.15pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, and livestreamed
Thursday, July 10
PARTY: Lux Issue 14 Launch Party
Lux throws a party for the launch of the new issue, with DJs, fancy vegan snack pop-up, and surprise guests.
8pm-midnight; Rodeo, 1134 President St, Brooklyn
Friday, July 11
LAUNCH: Claire Jia: Wanting
Claire Jia discusses Wanting—a searing debut novel of envy, longing, and regret across three lives and two countries that asks how far we’ll go for a friendship, a romance, a dream—in conversation with Jenevieve Ting.
$5; 7-8pm; Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway 3rd Floor, Rare Book Room, Manhattan
LAUNCH: Tamara Yajia: Cry for Me, Argentina
Argentine-American comedian and TV writer Tamara Yajia launches Cry for Me, Argentina: My Life as a Failed Child Star—featuring an unlikely combination of comedy and tragedy, generational struggle, and filthy sex jokes, this debut memoir is the messy, blazing story of a young Argentine trying to survive while holding on to her confidence, ambition, and sense of humor—in conversation with author and Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer Felipe Torres Medina.
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague, 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
PARTY: Queer Book Swap & Mocktail Night
Celebrate summer with a queer book swap and the launch of a new menu of housemade mocktails at Hive Mind Books. Bring a book you love by a queer/trans writer that you're willing to give away and enjoy a casual night of socializing.
$14.64, including a mocktail; 6.30-8.30pm; Hive Mind Books, 219 Irving Avenue, Brooklyn
TASTING: A Literary Tasting in Three Courses with Morgan Jerkins
After a sold out first event, (Zeal) returns to Liz’s Book Bar with acclaimed pastry chef Brigitte Malivert for a curated tasting, which weaves together food and literature in three dishes, moving from comfort to confrontation to heritage. Morgan will explain how each dish connects to Black culture and heritage, so guests will leave with a deeper understanding of the role these ingredients play in Black history. Ticket includes all three courses.
$84.99; 7-8.30pm; Liz’s Book Bar, 315 Smith Street, Brooklyn
Saturday, July 12
SALON: Rogue Loon Reading Series
The Rogue Loon Reading Series, hosted by writer JT Price, welcomes Tony Tulathimutte (Rejection), (Happier Far), Zach Williams (Beautiful Days), Kate Brittain (The End of the World), and me, Tyler Wetherall (Amphibian)! Hosted on a private roof deck on the Upper West Side, there will be musical performance from Gwen Burton and some wine and beer available, otherwise BYOB. Please RSVP to bigscorelit@gmail.com.
Free; 5-8 pm; 406 Central Park West, roof deck, Manhattan
FESTIVAL: The 14th Annual New York City Poetry Festival
The Poetry Society of New York will again transform Governors Island into a poetry wonderland for the two-day New York City Poetry Festival. This year’s theme, “Poetopia: Reimagining Poetic Futures,” invites festival-goers to co-create a world where poetry is a communal resource, hierarchy dissolves, and language is truly free. There are eight stages, headliner readings (3-4pm daily), live performances, open mics, vendor villages, and immersive experiences. Readers include Naomi Shihab Nye (19 Varieties of Gazelle), Eileen Myles (Chelsea Girls), and Sam Sax (Bury It, Madness), amongst others.
Free, with RSVP; July 12 + 13, 11am-6pm; Nolan Park, Governors Island, Manhattan
Sunday, July 13
TALK: Rachel Kushner: Creation Lake
Any excuse to go to Second Sundays at Pioneer Works, but especially to hear Rachel Kushner (The Mars Room) talk about Creation Lake—a novel about a secret agent, a thirty-four-year-old American woman of ruthless tactics and clean beauty, who is sent to do dirty work in France—in celebration of its paperback launch. She’ll be in conversation with PW’s Director of Publishing, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro.
Free, with RSVP; 1-2pm; Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer Street, 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. 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!
dang, makes me wish i still lived in the city! thks for sharing the scoop @ the co-lab!🩵
Thank you for the shoutout!