Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC.
It’s a quiet week in book-land with the coming holiday, but we still have Drink & Draft at the Center for Fiction, readings from Nick Flynn, Jackie Wang, and Lexi Freiman, and Books Are Magic are hosting Jordan Sondler to pen you your very own pet portrait.
Send feedback, send help, send events I should have on my radar, say hi! And it being that time of year, thanks to each of you for reading, subscribing, sharing, and pledging. I appreciate you!
Monday, November 20
The Café & Bar Presents Drink & Draft Night
Hosted by Josh Krigman, Drink & Draft is a night to get you unstuck and inspired in your writing, through a series of visual prompts and style experiments. Optional sharing; all genres welcome; no experience necessary.
$25 incl. first drink from the Cafe & Bar (beer, wine, or speciality cocktail); 6pm - 7.30pm; Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
Nick Flynn: Low w/ Pádraig Ó Tuama
Nick Flynn (Another Bullshit Night in Suck City) presents collection of poems and prose pieces, Low, which explores “the jaggedness of memory and what is salvageable when the past is broken by loss, violence, and trauma,” in conversation with Pádraig Ó Tuama (Feed the Beast).
$10 incl. equivalent gift card; 7pm-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague 122 Montague Street Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Jackie Wang presents Alien Daughters
Poet and critical theorist Jackie Wang (Carceral Capitalism) presents Alien Daughters Walk into the Sun, a compilation piece bringing together her early work, drawn from her zines, indie-lit crit, and prolific early 2000s blog, in conversation with Kate Zambreno (The Light Room).
$5 for RSVP, redeemable in-store; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, New York
Bridging Differences: Navigating Diversity in Reporting
One for the journalists amongst you. This NYU panel, open to the public, will “share practical insights on crafting inclusive narratives, addressing cultural nuances, and navigating sensitive topics, such as LGBTQIA and minority coverage,” featuring Frankie Edozien (NYU Journalism Clinical Professor and NYU Director of Accra), Gina Chua (executive editor, Semafor), and Eric Marcus (founder and host, Making Gay History). Followed by a brief reception with drinks.
Free, RSVP; 6pm-8pm; NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, 7th Floor Commons, 20 Cooper Square, New York
First Floor Walk Up presents “Aerial Archipelago” Launch Reading
The bi-weekly series of poetry and prose, First Floor Walk Up, presents the launch of “Aerial Archipelago,” the second issue of an annual collection of writing and art created by Paul McRandle, Valery Oisteanu, and Allan Graubard at Phasm Press.
Free; 6.30pm-8pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, New York
Tuesday, November 21
Lexi Freiman presents The Book of Ayn
Lexi Freiman (Inappropriation) presents The Book of Ayn, a satire of our political culture and those who rage against it, in conversation with the New Yorker staff writer Naomi Fry.
$5 for RSVP, redeemable in-store; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, New York
Saturday, November 25
Pet Portrait Pop-Up w/ Jordan Sondler
Books Are Magic are hosting author-illustrator Jordan Sondler (Feel It Out) to create personal pet portraits. Bring your pet or a photo, and portraits costs $50. That’s somebody’s Christmas gift sorted!
Free; 11am - 4pm; Books Are Magic Montague 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn
NB. Please check all details before attending, the fact checker went awol.
I’m a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and teacher, and the author of No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run (St. Martin’s Press) and Amphibian (forthcoming from Virago). I’m here and here on Instagram. Get in touch with any bookish events you’d like me to include!