As the New York Bureau Chief, I thought it might be a good idea to round up some notable literary and cultural events going on around New York that I think readers of The Rumpus would be interested in. So, I’ll start with some nightly, and sometimes daily, notables for this week:
Monday, September 21, 2009 – Sunday, September 27, 2009
Monday 9/21: The Rasskazy Book Launch Party at Housing Works: Tin House Books and CEC ArtsLink celebrate the release of Rasskazy, a new volume of translated short stories by the best of contemporary Russian writers. The event will include a round table discussion with the editors and two of the writers and a reception. 7pm.
Also on Monday 9/21: Moby and Kelli Scarr at Irving Plaza. 8:30pm.
Tuesday 9/22: Light Industry’s “In Search of Sunn”: Curator Ed Halter presents an illustrated lecture and clip show on the curious success of Sunn Classic Pictures (which explored such sci-fi subjects as Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, the Bermuda Triangle, and the search for Noah’s Ark), revisiting a markedly different era of film distribution, and analyzing the longstanding appeal of fringe metaphysics in the information age. 7:30pm.
Wednesday 9/23: Harmony and Me – One of the highlights of MoMA’s New Directors/New Films 2009, Bob Byington’s deadpan “slacker film for the cell phone generation” stars Justin Rice (of Andrew Bujalski’s Mutual Appreciation). 7pm.
Thursday 9/24: I WILL SMASH YOU SCREENING: The P.P.O.W Gallery will host the premiere of I WILL SMASH YOU (2009; 50 min), a documentary film by Luca Dipierro & Michael Kimball, produced by Little Burn Films. Doors open at 6:30 pm, screening starts at 7:30pm. free entry.
Surrealist writer Aimee Bender, author of three books including The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, is the featured guest of this month’s Creative Writing Lecture Series at the Writing Division of Columbia University. 116th and Broadway, Dodge Hall, Room 501. 7pm.
The Fiction Feed – Richard Nash, Emily Schultz and Brian Joseph Davis—three groundbreaking publishers developing new platforms for electronic distribution of literary fiction–discuss their projects. KGB Bar. 7pm.
Friday 9/25: It Came from Brooklyn: Julian Plenti (a.k.a. Paul Banks of Interpol). It Came from Brooklyn, the new concert series showcasing Brooklyn’s emerging and established talents. Readings by Rivka Galchen and Hampton Fancher. Performances by Julian Plenti. Eugene Mirman will MC. At the Guggenheim Museum. 8pm.
D.U.M.B.O. Art Under the Bridge Festival, Friday 9/25 – Sunday 9/27: The 13th Annual DUMBO Festival returns with a mega-fest of all-day art exhibitions and open studios. To see a full schedule go here.
Saturday 9/26: Grand Opening of the New Poets House–Readings by Mark Doty, Billy Collins, Marie Howe, and Galway Kinnell with musical performance by Natalie Merchant. 3pm.
Saturday 9/26 and Sunday 9/27: Carlapalooza: Cake Shop hosts its annual punk-rock festival.
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To send me info about notable things you think readers of The Rumpus would want to know about, email me at [email protected]!
