This week in New York The Rumpus throws an A Night Together with Sam Lipsyte, Michael Showalter, Lorelei Lee, Jeff Lewis, Jump-Off winners and more, Jamaica Kincaid and Rick Moody help collect Books for NY Schools, Richard Nash and Jim Hanas debate fiction and technology, Gary Shteyngart and Amy Sohn host a Shabbat dinner, Robert Coover reads, Etgar Keret talks to Ira Glass and Frederick Wiseman’s film Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind screens.
MONDAY 4/5: Joyland presents “The Fiction Feed 2.” The Fiction Feed 2 is a follow up to last fall’s reading and raucous debate about fiction and technology organized by Toronto-based literary website Joyland. This installment features author and Joyland co-founder Brian Joseph Davis, Cursor’s Richard Nash, and blogger and author Jim Hanas. McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince St.
Etgar Keret in conversation with Ira Glass following the screening of Keret’s film Jellyfish (Meduzot). The film is part of a series the Surreal World of Etgar Keret. Brooklyn Academy of Music. 7:00pm.
NY Moth StorySLAM. Following the wild success of its Mainstage series, The Moth sought to accommodate all the people who asked, “When can I tell my story?” The theme for the night is “Spring.” Ten stories. Five minutes each. Southpaw. 125 5th Ave. Park Slope, Brooklyn. $7. 7:30pm.
TUESDAY 4/6: A Night Together. The Rumpus Tinhouse and Flavorpill present an evening of readings, music and comedy with Sam Lipsyte, Colson Whitehead, Lorelei Lee, Jeff Lewis, Alina Simone, Michael Showalter and Dave Hill. The night will feature a special reading by four winners of our Jump-Off contest who were prompted to write a short piece based on one sentence from Sam Lipsyte’s novel The Ask. Highline Ballroom. 431 W. 16th St. $10 advance. $12 at door. 6:00pm doors. 8:00pm show.
Ian McEwan reads at 92Y. Ian McEwan’s new novel, Solar, will be published in March of 2010. The author of Atonement, Saturday, Enduring Love and On Chesil Beach, Mr. McEwan returns to the Poetry Center for his only New York City reading. 92y. 92nd St. and Lexington. 8:00pm.
David Remnick and Ta-Nehisi Coates in Conversation. What does it mean for America, 150 years since the commencement of the Civil War, to have a black president? What separated him, historically and personally, from generations of civil-rights leaders and other black politicians? These and other questions will be discussed and explored by Remnick and Coates, a senior editor for The Atlantic.
WEDNESDAY 4/7: The Happy Ending Reading Series at Joe’s Pub brings you Adam Haslett (Union Atlantic), Sam Lipsyte (The Ask) and Zoe Heller (The Believers). 425 Lafayette St. 7:00pm.
Robert Coover and Rick Moody “as” John Hawkes. Robert Coover reads from Noir, his new novel out from Overlook, and Rick Moody reads from the John Hawkes classic The Passion Artist, newly reprinted from Dalkey. Unnameable Books. 600 Vanderbilt Ave., Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. 7:00pm.
Decalogue: Films You Can Count on Two Hands. This “exhibition as film festival” organized by Eve Sussman features works by 10 international artists and contemporary filmmakers whose work is recognized for its innovative approaches to narrative. Converting the gallery space into a cinema, with vintage theater seating and a state-of-the-art screening system, “Decalogue : Films You Can Count on Two Hands” will operate on a regular cinema house schedule with a new double featuring running continuously each week. Up this week, Erin Cosgrove’s “What Manner of Person Art Thou,” and Johan Grimonprez’s “dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y”
THURSDAY 4/8: Animal Farm. Robert Coover reads from his new novel Noir along with Jim Knipfel and others. Happy Ending Bar. 302 Broome St. 8:00pm.
Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. Frederick Wiseman. Wiseman’s continued examination of American educational models led in 1986 to an ambitious study of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. 7:00PM.
FRIDAY 4/9: Gary Shteyngart, Amy Sohn & Joshua Lambert: New Perspectives on Jewish Writing. A Talk and Shabbat Dinner. Following a panel discussion about contemporary Jewish writing, join the panelists for cocktails and a festive dinner. 92Y Tribeca. 200 Hudson St.
Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. Frederick Wiseman. See above for details.
SATURDAY 4/10: BOOKS FOR NY SCHOOLS: ReadThis Event – w/ Sam Lipsyte, Jamaica Kincaid, Rick Moody and Elizabeth Gilbert. Center for Fiction hosts this all-day event to collect books for schools around New York. The event includes readings, events, workshops for kids and more. ReadThis is a volunteer organization dedicated to making books available to everyone–they’ve had book drives for public schools that desperately needed libraries, and sent books to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Center for Fiction. 17 E. 47th St. Admission is two new or gently used books for kids up through grade 12.
Scorcher Issue #5 Release Party and Reading. Birdsong Micropress and Max Steele will release the newest issue of his psychedelic porno poetry zine, Scorcher (titled “I Love You, You Little Crocodile”) on April 10th. The Hostess Project at PPOW Gallery. 511 W. 25th St. 7:00pm – 10:00pm.
My Dear One pre-release party and send off. To celebrate the release of their new album, My Dear One, and the start of their national tour, The Shondes will be performing with Alina Simone, The Secret History and Jive Grave–and selling advance copies of their album. Southpaw. 125 5th Ave. 8:30pm.
SUNDAY 4/11: Sam Lipsyte and John Wray read. KGB bar. 85 E. 4th. 7:00pm.
ART: The Private Collection of Henry Darger. These are the images to which Darger woke up each morning, returned to every evening after church and work, and retired to at night. American Folk Art Museum. 45 W. 53rd St.
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News about notable happenings in New York can be sent to rozalia-AT-therumpus.net
Original Notable New York Illustration © André da Loba
Other images in order of appearance: film still from a film by Etgar Keret; film still from Johan Grimonprez’s “dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y”; two works in the private collection of Henry Darger on view at the American Folk Art Museum.
