The end of August is a notoriously slow time for events of all kinds in New York. Why this year, and this week, has been an exception I do not know. August is full of great, weird, thought-provoking events. Get out of the house.
MONDAY 08/19: Poet Sarah Bridgins hosts “Women Writers on Mentorship,” featuring poets Becca Klaver, Anna Sequoia, Marisa Crawford, Barbara Henning, & Krystal Languell. Each poet will read from their own work and add in one poem by a poet they consider to be an “elder” or mentor. Blue Stockings, 7pm, free.
August was Glamour Magazine’s spotlight on fiction issue. They’re celebrating the issue Monday with five contributors reading from their most recent novels. The event will feature Megan Abbott (Dare Me), Tamara Houston (Waiting for Jules), Sarah McCarry (All Our Pretty Songs), Galt Niederhoffer (Love and Happiness), and Adelle Waldman (The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P). McNally Jackson, 7pm, free.
TUESDAY 08/20: The Atlas Review, Electric Literature, and Emily Books join WORD Bookstores to close out their summer series of Words on the Waterfront with “(vaguely) summer-themed” readings by Emily Cooke, Matt Dojny, Alex Morris, Helen Phillips, and Montana Ray. WORD Brookyln (Facebook), 7pm, free.
Phantom Limb Press celebrates the release of Ryan Bender-Murphy’s chapbook First Man on Mars with a reading from Bender-Murphy and Sam Ross. Pacific Standard, 7pm, free.
The Bushwick Book Club invites Casey Holford, Jessie Kilguss, Mia Pixley, Susan Hwang, and Sweet Soubrette to sing songs about the children’s classic The Phantom Tollbooth
WEDNESDAY 08/21: Mitchell Jackson reads from his new autobiographical novel The Residue Years
Fantastic Fiction presents a great reading for the end of summer with supernatural YA authors reading at a bar. See Libba Bray (author of The Diviners
THURSDAY 08/22: If you missed Wayne Koestenbaum reading from his new book My 1980s and Other Essays
FRIDAY 08/23: David Ewalt reads from his new book Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It
And yeah, I know, lots of Greenlight Bookstore at the end of this week. I can’t help that they’re booking some great events…
SATURDAY 08/24: This weekend, get outside for a bit at the Fort Greene Literary Festival. You’ll catch readings by Writers Foundry faculty members Chris Adrian, Timothy Small, and Jackson Taylor, poet Angel Nafis, and young writers from the New York Writers Coalition workshops. The event is hosted by Laurie Cumbo. Fort Greene Park Martyr’s Monument, 2pm, free.
This isn’t explicitly literary, but what is “literariness” anyhow? I make the rules here. Atlas Obscura, the “definitive guide to the world’s wondrous and curious places,” is hosting one of their fantastic Field Trip Days in Red Hook. You’ll be out for the day with a guide, exploring the curiosities of Red Hook. The field trip is free, but it’s limited in number, so RSVP soon. All over Red Hook, 3pm, free.
Have events worthy of praise? Send them to Dustin at [email protected].
