By Olivia Loving
To make what we pray are the last weeks of winter so much more exciting, we’ve compiled a list of upcoming literary events in New York CIty. (Unfortunately, Strand Speed-Dating already happened. But you can scout out another book-loving mate next year!)
1. How I Learned to Chill the F@#k Out About a Lot of Things.
February 22, 8 PM. Location: Happy Ending Lounge on Broome St.
Particularly topical, as Eliot Glazer (the creator of the “Shit New Yorkers Say” video) will be performing. Other performers include Jeff Simmermon of The Moth, and Elisa Albert, whose work includes, among others, The Book of Dahlia. With midterms fast approaching, there are definitely many things to chill about.
2. Katherine Boo, Pulitzer Prize winner, reads from her new work.
February 23, 7 PM. Location: 82nd & Broadway Barnes & Noble.
Katherine Boo was recently featured on the front cover of The New York Times in anticipation of her new book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. Boo is a reportedly humble yet incredibly, incredibly talented journalist. According to the Times article, her book (which was based entirely on personal experience) was completely absent of first person. The book, a “Slumdog Millionaire” tale “without the Bollywood ending,” took years to write. Even more incredible considering that Boo suffers from a multitude of health problems, and was able to type the book only after surgery funded by a MacArthur grant. Read more of her story and her book here.
3. Nathan Englander reads from “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” in conversation with Darin Strauss.
February 23, 7 pm. Location: NYU LILLIAN VERNON.
If we only had a Time Turner, we would able to make this event as well as Boo’s. Unfortunately, you’ll have to choose. We cited Englander’s book as one of “Five To Look Forward To In 2012,” and it has arrived. Take advantage of the great authors hosted by the Reading Series here on West 10th St., feel proud to go to a university that can offer them, and attend.
4. National Book Critics Circle Reading
March 7, 6 PM. Location: The New School.
Meet the finalists before the awards are announced: The National Book Critics Circle Reading is a yearly event in which dozens of finalists read from their work. This is not an event to miss, and if all the authors were on Foursquare, there would be a “Swarm” badge of incredible talent. Finalists include fiction writers (The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides), as well as memoirists (Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts). Writers will be introduced by Jennifer Egan. The awards ceremony is held the next day: same time, same place.
5. Michael Cunningham (The Hours) in conversation with his former professor, Hilma Wolitzer.
February 21, 7 PM. Location: Center For Fiction, 17 E. 47th St.
We love when authors interact with their professors-turned-peers. (Because, maybe, after graduation, our own mentors will accept our Facebook friend requests.) Cunningham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hours was turned into a 2002 film starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman.
Given that we also love books that refer to other books (a never-ending literary cycle!), we love this book for featuring three women whose lives are connected by Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of book events happening in the city. However, we do hope that it inspires you to check out a few of these exciting readings. New York is a mecca of media — books, included — and we are so lucky to have so much talent living around us.
Enjoy! Read! Buy books!
[image via]
