Reading the City
22 April to 28 April
Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC.
The NYPL World Literature Festival continues from last week with lots of events in a range of languages, as does the Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl, which culminates in a big bash at the Center for Fiction on Saturday. There are reading series on all week: Ditmas Lit on Wednesday, taking place for the first time at the Urbane Arts Club; Les Bleus on Thursday; the inaugural Scrappy Reading Series on Friday in Red Hook; and Literary Saloon on Sunday.
As ever, tell me about your book launches and events! And please share the love with your bookish friends.
Monday, April 22
Brandon Taylor: The Late Americans
Brandon Taylor, the Booker Prize finalist and author of Real Life and Filthy Animals, celebrates the paperback launch of The Late Americans, in conversation with Adam Dalva.
$5 for RSVP, redeemable in-store; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, New York
Tuesday, April 23
Table of Contents x MacDowell
TOC returns to the verdant rooftop of the The Brooklyn Grange Sunset Park, with readings of new works by three MacDowell fellows: Leila Mottley (Woke Up No Light) Lisa Ko (Memory Piece) & Alexandra Tanner (Worry), all paired with dishes inspired by their work. Pre-reading tours of the farm at 6pm (it’s worth it!). The evening will wrap up with a conversation among the authors led by Evan Hanczor.
Prices vary; 7-9pm; Brooklyn Grange – Sunset Park, 850 Third Avenue. Roof, Brooklyn
Chanel Miller: Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All
I don’t usually include middle-grade books, but it’s Chanel Miller, so, of course. She’s launching Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All, a fun, funny, and poignant story of friendship and community about a ten-year-old sock detective bent on returning all the lonely only socks left behind in her parents' NYC laundromat. Chanel is joined by TIME senior editor Lucy Feldman. This is a first-come first-served event.
Free; 5.30-7pm; Yu and Me Books, 44 Mulberry Street, New York
Sasha Vasilyuk: Your Presence is Mandatory
Sasha Vasilyuk presents her debut novel Your Presence is Mandatory—based on real events, about a World War II veteran with a secret that could land him in the Gulag, and his family who are forced to live in the shadow of all he has not told them—in conversation with Glenn Raucher.
$5 for RSVP, redeemable in-store; 7pm; McNally Jackson Soho, 134 Prince Stret, New York
Caroline Leavitt: Days of Wonder
Caroline Leavitt (Is This Tomorrow) discusses her newest book, Days of Wonder—a tantalizing, courageous story about mothers and daughters, guilt and innocence, and the lengths we go for love—in discussion with Elinor Lipman (Ms. Demeanor).
$5, redeemable in store; 7pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, New York
Wednesday, April 24
Sharing entanglements
A conversation about independent publishing and curatorial practices with Elena Malzew of Berlin-based art book publisher Bom Dia Boa Tarde Boa Noite and Jesse Muller and Natasha Rijkhoff of Amsterdam-based Onomatopee Projects in the courtyard of Unnameable Books.
Free; 5-7pm; Unnameable Books, 615 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn
Ditmas Lit
Ditmas Lit, hosted by Lena Valencia and Sarah Bridgins, is relocating to the Urbane Arts Club, consolidating Ditmas Park’s lit scene. This month features Gina Chung (Green Frog), Christina Cooke (Broughtupsy), Rachel Lyon (Fruit of the Dead), and Jessie Ren Marshall (WOMEN! IN! PERIL!).
Free, with RSVP; doors 7.15pm, readings 8pm; Urbane Arts Club, 1016 Beverley Rd., Brooklyn
David Diop: Beyond the Door of No Return
David Diop and New York Times editor and writer Joumana Khatib discuss David’s latest novel, Beyond the Door of No Return (trans. by Sam Taylor), shortlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature, co-organized by Villa Albertine as part of the Authors on Tour program.
Free with RSVP; 6-7pm; Albertine Books, 972 Fifth Avenue, New York
Holly Gramazio: The Husbands
Holly Gramazio presents The Husbands with this fun premise: When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There’s only one problem—she’s not married. He is the first in a succession of husbands that mysteriously appear in her life. Holly discusses her debut novel with author Adriana Trigiani.
Free; 7.30pm; Greenlight bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
Poetry Night with Leila Mottley and Tatiana Johnson-Boria
An evening in celebration of the release of two poetry collections. Former Youth Poet Laureate of Oakland, CA, Leila Mottley, follows her trailblazing first novel, Nightcrawling, with a first collection of poems, woke up no light, reckoning with themes of reparations, restitution, and desire. And Tatiana Johnson-Boria releases Nocturne in Joy, an exercise in Black vulnerability through poetry.
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Thursday, April 25
Les Bleus Literary Salon
Hosted by Paige McGreevy in different venues across the city, from elegant front rooms to the backs of breweries, with a great snack spread and BYO wine. The line-up this month features Donna Hemans (The House of Plain Truth), Samantha Mann (Putting Out), Jessie Ren Marshall (Women in Peril), and Sasha Vasilyuk (Your Presence is Mandatory).
Free, BYOB; 7pm; Upper West Side, RSVP to lesbleusnyc@gmail.com for the address
Friday, April 26
Rites of Spring: A Psychic Affaire
The Urbane Arts Club continues its eclectic cultural programming with this Spring-themed psychic evening, featuring medium and musician Jocelyn Mackenzie, Reiki practitioner Azuri Jenkins, poet jasminethestar, and Nommo Apothecary, with nibbles and drinks.
$25; 7-11pm; 1016 Beverley Road, Brooklyn
Scrappy Reading Series
“What does scrappy mean to you?” Five emerging and established readers will answer this question at the inaugural edition of the Scrappy Reading Series, supported by the Red Hook Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Hosted and curated by Mia Arias Tang, readers include Chloé Caldwell (I’ll Tell You in Person), Catherine La Sota, Farah Faye, and Maggie T. Garry.
Free, but registration recommended; 7-8pm; Compère Collective, 351 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn
Liana Finck: How to Baby
A wryly personal and deeply relatable graphic memoir, How to Baby skewers the “traditional” parenting book to chronicle the absurdities, frustrations, and soaring joys of new parenthood, from the New Yorker cartoonist and author Liana Finck. She is joined by NYT opinion writer and author Jessica Grose (Sad Desk Salad).
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Marcus Hunter: Radical Reparations
Marcus Hunter discuses of his newest book, Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation—in which one of the country's foremost voices on reparations offers a radical and vital new framework, offering a unifying way forward for us all—in conversation with Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Melissa Haizlip.
$5, redeemable in store; 7pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, New York
Saturday, April 27
An Anniversary Party Celebrating 5 Years in Brooklyn
The Center for Fiction is celebrating its five-year anniversary at its Brooklyn location on Independent Bookstore Day with an itinerary of free events, from the return of their “Take What You Can Carry” sale to an open house for the general public of their members-only upper floors and terrace. They’re also playing host to the official after party for the Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl from 5-7pm in the auditorium, with Mahogany L. Browne leading the festivities.
Free; 11am-8pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
Indie Bookstore Bacchanalia
On Indie Bookstore Day, Books Are Magic are celebrating women's rights AND women's wrongs, with Melissa Lozada-Oliva (Candelaria), Megan Milks (Slug and Other Stories), and Chelsea G. Summers (A Certain Hunger), reading from her brand-new, IBD-exclusive novella, An Excellent Host. Each author will read for 15 minutes in the Peter Straub Reading Room.
Free; 12-2pm; Books Are Magic Montague 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn
Sunday, April 28
The Literary Saloon
The Literary Saloon (formerly known as the NYDC Reading Series), a mixed-genre reading series with an emphasis on local emerging talent and a dedication to diverse and underrepresented voices, returns with Tania Pabón Acosta, Chelsea Fonden, Kate Shannon Jenkins, Kyle Lucia Wu (Win Me Something), and Annell López (I’ll Give You a Reason), and hosted by Wesley Straton (The Bartender’s Cure).
Free, but drink purchases from their Café & Bar are requested; 5pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
Book Hoes Book Exchange & Mixer
The NYC Book Club for Book Hoes (Zoë’s Substack) hosts books clubs and literary-themed events and the occasional mixer, like this one, a chance for newcomers to connect to the community and exchange some books at the same time. Bring as many or as few books as you'd like to put on the exchange tables, which will be set up by genre, along with bookish merch for sale and a raffle.
$13; 4-6pm; 66 Greenpoint Bar, 66 Greenpoint, 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 in August, 2024). I’m here and here on Instagram. Get in touch with any bookish events you’d like me to include!
