Reading the City
15 April to 21 April
Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC.
This week, we have a bunch of new and new-to-this-newsletter reading series—perhaps because the literary events are hot tickets right now as per
’s recent NYT piece. Yes to that! This week also kicks off NYPL’s World Literature Festival and the Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl. Enjoy, readers.As ever, send feedback, send events I should have on my radar, say hi! And please share the love with your bookish friends.
Monday, April 15
NYPL's World Literature Festival
The New York Public Library's World Literature Festival shines a spotlight on books, writers, artists, and thinkers from around the globe. There’s more events than I can list, and in a bunch of languages, but kicking it all off is tonight’s “Written Work: Poetry, Labor, and the Global City” with Camonghne Felix, Dorothea Lasky, Emanuel Xavier, and moderator Helena de Groot. Musican Linda Smith will close out the night with a performance.
April 14-20; Free; Various locations
Sarah Langan: A Better World
Bram Stoker Award-recipient Sarah Langan (Good Neighbors) discusses her new novel A Better World—an outside-the-box satirical thriller about a family’s odyssey into an exclusive enclave for the wealthy that isn’t what it seems—with Patrick Radden Keefe (Empire of Pain).
From $8; 7-8pm; Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway 3rd Floor, Rare Book Room, New York
Tuesday, April 16
Gillian Linden: Negative Space
Gillian Linden launches her debut novel, Negative Space—about a young mother navigating the instabilities of teaching, parenting, and marriage in the wake of the pandemic—in conversation with Ed Park (Same Bed Different Dreams).
Free; 7-9pm; Powerhouse Arena, 28 Adams Street, Brooklyn
The Palace Reading Series
A new-ish one in Greenpoint hosted by Rita Puskas and Marisa Cadena, this month features Claudia Ninotchka Acevedo-Quiñones (The Hurricane Book), the founder of The Omni Institute Melissa Hunter Gurney, S. Galvin (Ugly Time), and Dezy Cosmo.
Free; 7-9pm; The Greenpoint Palace, 206 Nassau Avenue, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Books & Booze @ Barrow’s Intense
Brooklyn Books & Booze—now taking place in Industry City—spotlights authors from different genres, curated by author and journalist Randee Dawn. This month, readers include: John Wiswell (Someone You Can Build a Nest In), Anjali Patel, Elijah Kinch Spector (Kalyna the Cutthroat), and Blake Sanz.
Free; 7pm; Barrow’s Intense Tasting Room, 86 34th Street, Brooklyn
Myriam J. A. Chancy: Village Weavers
Myriam J. A. Chancy (What Storm, What Thunder) discusses her latest novel Village Weavers, which tells the story of Gertie and Sisi—two Haitian girls with an unbreakable bond spanning decades and continents. Myriam is joined by Cleyvis Natera (Neruda on the Park).
$7.50; 7pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
Wednesday, April 17
Shubnum Khan: The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years
BPL Presents welcomes Shubnum Khan to discuss The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years—about a ruined mansion by the sea, the djinn that haunts it, and a curious girl who unearths the tragedy that happened there a hundred years previous—joined by Jeremy Tiang (State of Emergency).
Free, RSVP online; 7-8.30pm; Central Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
Open Book: A Literary Open Mic
If you have an “android/wizard/goblin story”, Open Book are hosting their first sci-fi and fantasy-inspired open mic night guest hosted by Jason Smith (
) and founder Cecilia Betsill. Happy hour from 5-7pm.Free; 8pm; Fiction Cafe & Cocktail Bar, 308 Hooper St, Brooklyn
Thursday, April 18
Literary Lunch: Richard Deming & John Yau
Richard Deming (Day for Night) and art critic John Yau read and join host, poet and playwright Claudia Rankine in conversation, alongside an informal lunch buffet. Open to the public. All attendees are required to RSVP in advance here.
Free; 12pm; Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, 58 West 10th Street, New York
Pete’s Reading Series
Pete’s Reading Series, curated and hosted by Temim Fruchter and Brian Gresko, welcomes Priscilla Gilman (The Critic’s Daughter), Leslie Jamison (Splinters), Chin-Sun Lee (Upcountry), and Emily Raboteau (Lessons for Survival), in an awesome line-up.
Free; 7.30pm; Pete’s Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St, Brooklyn
Lyrics, Lit & Liquor
An evening of literary readings, live music, theatrical performances and trivia in Flatbush, hosted by Amanda Miller. Readings from Susan Buttenweiser (We Were Lucky with the Rain) and Amy Dupcak (Dust), music from Eleonore Weill (Fada), and theatrical performances from Katie Kopatjic (Modern Witches) and Erin Murray Quinlan (Brain Hemingway).
Free; 7-9pm; Coffee Mob, 1602 Newkirk Ave, Brooklyn
Choice Words: Writers on Abortion
Brooklyn-based poet Annie Finch is the editor of Choice Words: Writers on Abortion, a collection of literature about abortion by writers from the sixteenth through twenty-first centuries and across cultures, ethnicities, genders and sexualities. This event brings together contributors for a reading and conversation, including Mahogany Browne (Vinyl Moon), Desiree Cooper (Nothing Special), Camonghne Felix (Build Yourself A Boat), Kristen Ghodsee (Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism), Katha Pollitt (The Mind/Body Problem), and Manisha Sharma:
Free, RSVP online; 7-8.30pm; Central Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
In Translation: David Diop on Beyond the Door of No Return
David Diop, International Booker Prize winner for At Night All Blood Is Black, discusses his latest Beyond the Door of No Return—a historical novel following Michel Adanson, a French Enlightenment botanist, who travels to Senegal to study plants and finds himself in love—translated by Sam Taylor. David is joined in conversation by writer and translator Madhu H. Kaza (Lines of Flight).
$7.50; 7pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
Joy Sullivan: Instructions for Traveling West
Joy Sullivan (
) launches her debut poetry collection, Instructions for Traveling West—about what's possible when we heed our instincts and honor our intuition, allowing ourselves to strike out for new territories of love, pleasure, and peace. Hosted by Books Are Magic, Joy is joined in conversation by Kate Baer (And Yet).$10; 7-8pm; First Unitarian Congregational Society, 119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Brianna Pastor: Good Grief
Brianna Pastor's Good Grief provides hope to those who have struggled with grief, depression, trauma, among other emotional issues. Marking the release of an expandd edition, Brianna discusses her work with photographer Fernando Samalot.
Free; 7.30pm; Greenlight bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
Friday, April 19
Olga Ravn: My Work
Olga Ravn (The Employees) discusses her new book, My Work, a radical, funny, and mercilessly honest novel about motherhood, in conversation with Laura Kolbe (Little Pharma).
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Saturday, April 20
Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl
Celebrate Brooklyn's independent bookstores with the annual Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl, taking place over the entire week leading up to Independent Bookstore Day on April 27. Grab a Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl passport from any participating store across the borough, and then seek out stamps at each store you visit. Visit 5 stores and get a 25% off coupon good at any of them, and more prizes thereafter.
Free; April 20-27; multiple locations
Mike Fiorito: For All We Know: A UFO Manifesto
A night of alien encounters with author Mike Fiorito to celebrate his new UFO-themed science-fiction novel For All We Know, with live music, blushing, abductions, and maybe some probing.
Free; 7.30pm; Taylor & Co. Books, 1021 Cortelyou Rd, Brooklyn
Sunday, April 21
Drink 'N Draft
End your week creatively with Josh Krigman’s Drink & Draft, offering a series of visual prompts that lead you toward new creative choices in your work. Optional sharing; all genres welcome; no experience necessary.
$20, redeemable in store; 6-8pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, New York
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 in August, 2024). I’m here and here on Instagram. Get in touch with any bookish events you’d like me to include!
