Reading the City
May 6 to 12
Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC—and hello to our new subscribers!
There’s a couple events I’m particularly excited to check out this week: Lilly Dancyger launches First Love in conversation with Leslie Jamison; Charlee Dyroff celebrates her debut novel, Loneliness & Company, with Molly McGhee; and Nina St. Pierre kicks off her tour for Love is a Burning Thing with Chloé Cooper Jones. Also, readings from Claire Messud, Jamaica Kincaid, and Mona Awad, and the National Book Foundation celebrates its 5 Under 35.
As ever, send feedback, send help, send events I should have on my radar, say hi! And please share the love with your bookish friends.
Monday, May 6
Lilly Dancyger: First Love
Lilly Dancyger (Negative Space) launches her new book First Love—a bold, poignant essay collection that treats women’s friendships as the love stories they truly are—in conversation with Leslie Jamison (The Empathy Exams).
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague, 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
The Tell, Vol. 78
A glamorous live storytelling event curated by writer and photographer Michael Leviton (To Be Honest), with stories tending towards the chaotic and bizarre, interspersed by musical interludes, and followed by some revelry.
$20 in advance; 8-11pm; Georgia Room, Freehand NY, 2nd Floor, 23 Lexington Ave., New York
Miss Manhattan Non-Fiction Reading Series
A monthly non-fiction reading series hosted by Elyssa Maxx Goodman (Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City), with this edition featuring: Richard Scott Larson (The Long Hallway); Jessica Lynne, the founding editor of ARTS.BLACK; and Magali Duzant (La vie is like that).
Free; 7.30pm; Niagara, 112 Avenue A, New York
Zoë Schlanger: The Light Eaters
Atlantic staff writer Zoë Schlanger discusses The Light Eaters—a groundbreaking work of popular science that probes the hidden world of the plant kingdom and reveals the astonishing capabilities of the green life all around us—in conversation with Nadja Spiegelman (I'm Supposed to Protect You From All This).
$5 for RSVP, redeemable in-store; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, New York
Tuesday, May 7
Charlee Dyroff: Loneliness and Company
Charlee Dyroff launches her debut novel, Loneliness and Company—a timely, beautifully observed novel set in near future New York about a young woman who finds herself tangled in a secret government project combating loneliness. She is joined by Molly McGhee (Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind).
$5, redeemable in-store; 7-9pm; Powerhouse Arena, 28 Adams Street, Brooklyn
Jamaica Kincaid and Kara Walker with Hilton Als: An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children
Novelist Jamaica Kincaid and artist Kara Walker discuss their new book, An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children, a unique collaboration that explores the hidden history of the plant world, in conversation with New Yorker staff writer Hilton Als.
$27 with book; 7-8pm; NYPL, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Celeste Bartos Forum, 476 5th Ave, New York, and livestreamed
Distinguished Writers Series presents Catherine Barnett
A reading and discussion with Whiting and James Laughlin award-winner Catherine Barnett (Solutions for the Problem of Bodies in Space: Poems) as part of Hunter Creative Writing Program’s Distinguished Writer Series, which invites notable writers for intimate class visits. The events are open to students and the public. Non-students should arrive early to get a day pass from security. Government-issued ID needed.
Free; 7:30pm; Hunter West, 8th Floor Faculty Dining Room, New York
Jiaming Tang: Cinema Love
Jiaming Tang celebrates his debut novel, Cinema Love—a moving epic about queer love and forbidden relationships, following Old Second and Bao Mei, a married couple in Chinatown with an unusual past—in conversation with Vanessa Chan (The Storm We Made).
$7.50; 7pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
Wednesday, May 8
Nina St. Pierre: Love is a Burning Thing
Nina St. Pierre launches Love is a Burning Thing—a riveting memoir about a daughter’s investigation into the wirings of her loving, unpredictable mother: a woman who lived her life in pursuit of the divine, and who started two big fires, decades apart—in conversation with Chloé Cooper Jones, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of the memoir Easy Beauty.
$5, redeemable in store; 7pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, New York
The Stories of NYC: Diane Richards on Ella
Part of a year-long series exploring The Stories of NYC in recognition of the 400th anniversary of the city’s establishment in 1624, Diane Richards discusses her debut novel, Ella, following the early years of legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, from Depression-era Harlem to the biggest stages in the world,. Diane is joined by Sidik Fofana (Stories from the Tenants Downstairs).
$7.50; 7pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
Thursday, May 9
National Book Foundation Celebrates 5 Under 35
Join the National Book Foundation to celebrate its 2024 5 Under 35 honorees, including Antonia Angress (Sirens & Muses), Maya Binyam (Hangman), Zain Khalid (Brother Alive), Tyriek White (We Are a Haunting), and Jenny Tinghui Zhang (Four Treasures of the Sky). The evening will include remarks and readings, hosted by Emmy-nominated comedian and writer Karen Chee, and Books Are Magic.
$10.89; 7-9pm; St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, 157 Montague Street, Brooklyn
Renée Watson: skin & bones
Renée Watson (Piecing Me Together) discusses skin & bones—a soulful and lyrical novel exploring sisterhood, motherhood, faith, love, and ultimately what gets passed down from one generation to the next—in conversation with Jennifer Baker (Forgive Me Not).
Free, register online; 6-7pm Brooklyn Heights Library, 286 Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn
Friday, May 10
Claire Messud: This Strange Eventful History
Claire Messud launches her new novel, This Strange Eventful History—an immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history—in conversation with Amitava Kumar (My Beloved Life).
From $8; 7-8pm; Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway 3rd Floor, Rare Book Room, New York
Mona Awad: Rouge
Mona Awad celebrates the paperback release of her newest novel, Rouge—where Snow White meets Eyes Wide Shut in a surreal descent into the dark side of beauty, envy, grief, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters—in conversation with Kristen Roupenian (Cat Person and Other Stories).
$5, redeemable in store; 7pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, New York
Brooklyn Poets Spring Fellows Showcase
Fellowship winners from Brooklyn Poets’ winter-spring workshop season share their work, including: Aliyah Blattner, Jay Délise, Benjamin K Herrington (bkh), Trudy Hodnefield, willow hour, Kaitlin Hsu, Kathy Jiang, Jasmine Joseph, Sadia Mohammed, Mahanoor Samee, Selena Spier, and Tiezst Taylor.
Free; 6.30-8.30pm; 144 Montague, Brooklyn, and livestreamed
Kalpana Raina: For Now, It Is Night
Kalpana Raina, a translator and the Vice Chair at Words Without Borders, discusses For Now, It Is Night—17 lively short stories providing an irreverent examination of exile, drawn from the ever-observant pen of Hari Krishna Kaul, Kalpana’s uncle and one of Kashmir's most celebrated writers—in conversation with Adam Dalva.
Free; 7pm; Community Bookstore, 143 7th Avenue, Brooklyn
Saturday, May 11
SongWriter: Joyce Carol Oates & Ali Sethi
This live episode of the SongWriter podcast, where stories turn into songs, welcomes two iconic artists to the stage—author Joyce Carol Oates and musician and novelist Ali Sethi. Hosted by the podcast’s creator and producer, Ben Arthur, expect stories, music, and conversation. The performance will focus on caregiving, and Dr. Allison Applebaum, the founder of the Caregivers Clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and author of the recent Stand By Me: A Guide to Navigating Modern, Meaningful Caregiving, will join in a conversation about the contemporary research on the subject. The event is presented by the Queens College School of Arts, the MFA Program in Creative Writing & Literary Translation, and Kupferberg Center for the Arts.
$10, or free with online RSVP; 7pm; LeFrak Concert Hall, 153-49 Reeves Ave, Flushing, Queens
Bangla-dish
I don’t normally include cookbooks, but this sounds fun. British-Bangladeshi writer Dina Begum celebrates the publication of her cookbook Made in Bangladesh, exploring the cuisine of Bangladesh through recipes. She is joined for a Q&A by Council Member Shahana Hanif, and the event, co-hosted by Lofty Pigeon Books, includes treats from local Bangladeshi restaurants.
Free; 6-7.30pm; Urbane Arts Club, 1016 Beverley Rd., Brooklyn
Sunday, May 12
Second Sunday Sit 'N Sip: Mother’s Day Edition
A special edition of P&T’s Read-In series, with “make Mom a card” station for kids, a Mother’s Day mimosa special at the café, and free flowers with a purchase of $20 or more. Bring a book from home or buy one (the admission is redeemable in-store), grab a drink, and claim a cushion on the amphitheater stairs for an afternoon of quiet reading or bookish friend-making.
$10, redeemable in-store; 7pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, New York
Booking Ahead…
Read The Room: The Arty 80's
Every event sells out almost immediately, so get in there quick, if you want to attend the next Read the Room on June 3rd. Hosted by journalist Kathleen Squires and her husband Ronnie Rodriguez in their event space in Little Italy, this special installment celebrates NYC’s Downtown art scene in the 1980s, with readings from Jennifer Clement (The Promised Party: Kahlo, Basquiat and Me) and Brad Gooch (Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring). Food will be prepared by La Palapa Cocina Mexicana, dessert by Taste It Presents, plus wine, beer and soft drinks, too.
$75; June 3rd, 6.30pm; 132 Mulberry Street, No. 502, 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). I’m here and here on Instagram. Get in touch with any bookish events you’d like me to include!
