Every Saturday I share the readings, book launches and literary conversations happening across New York, from Lit Up NYC, the weekly guide we publish at Eckleburg. Here is what is on today, the week ahead and next weekend. Times and tickets change, so check each event’s page before you go.
The Week Ahead
Sunday, October 11
- 1:30 PM, Brooklyn: A Broadstone Books reading, with Amy Barone, Margo Taft Stever, Billy Cancel and Mary Moloney. Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club Boathouse. Free, donations encouraged.
An afternoon poetry reading at the boathouse on the Gowanus Canal. Details - 2 PM, Manhattan: Avia Tadmor presents Song in Tammuz: Poems, with guest readers. P&T Knitwear. From $10.
A launch for Tadmor’s new collection. Details - 5:30 PM, Manhattan: Gauri Awasthi presents Mother Wound: Poems. P&T Knitwear. From $10.
A poetry launch with live music. Details
Monday, October 12
- 7 PM, Manhattan: Eleanor Johnson on Monstrous Bitch. Book Culture on 112th Street.
An author talk on Johnson’s new book. Details - 7 PM, Brooklyn: Samantha Josephs on Carrying, with Tommy Dorfman. Books Are Magic. From $10.89.
A conversation and signing for Josephs’s new book. Details
Tuesday, October 13
- 7 PM, Brooklyn: Edinburgh at 25, with Alexander Chee, Mira Jacob, R. O. Kwon and Brandon Taylor. The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Ave. Tickets include the book; livestream available.
A celebration of the 25th anniversary of Chee’s debut novel, with a signed anniversary edition for ticket holders. Details - 7 PM, Manhattan: Alice Attie and Doon Arbus on Maybe. McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St. RSVP.
An evening of poetry at the Seaport store. Details - 7 PM, Brooklyn: TBR Series: a reading with Stine An. Community Bookstore, Park Slope. Free.
The bookstore’s reading series continues. Details - 7 PM, Manhattan: Iman Hariri-Kia on Once in a Lifetime, with Joss Richard. Strand Book Store, Rare Book Room, 828 Broadway. Ticketed.
A release event for Hariri-Kia’s speculative novel about an influencer trapped inside her own video. Details - 7:30 PM, Brooklyn: The launch party for Cake Zine Vol. 8, Spoiled Rotten. McNally Jackson at BKLYN STUDIOS, 1 Dekalb Ave. RSVP.
Readings to launch the new issue of the zine. Details
Wednesday, October 14
- 5:30 PM, Manhattan: How to Read a Poem, with Paul Muldoon. American Irish Historical Society. $50.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet on the art of reading a poem. Details - 7 PM, Brooklyn: The International Library: Mathias Énard on Perfecting the Shot, with Nicole Krauss. The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Ave. Livestream available.
Énard’s novel, translated by Charlotte Mandell, follows a teenage sniper in a city at civil war. Details - 7 PM, Manhattan: Handmade Utopia, with David Jacob Kramer and Michael Schmelling. McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St. RSVP.
A conversation and signing at the Seaport store. Details - 8 PM, Manhattan: The Litmus Press 25th Anniversary Celebration and Benefit. The Poetry Project, St. Mark’s Church Parish Hall. $25.
A benefit night marking 25 years of the independent poetry and translation press. Details
Thursday, October 15
- 7 PM, Manhattan: Hernan Diaz on Ply, with Hua Hsu. Strand Book Store, Rare Book Room, 828 Broadway. Ticketed.
The Pulitzer Prize winner’s third novel, set centuries ahead, follows an orphan who steals electricity from the grid. Details - 7 PM, Manhattan: Esther Yi on To God, with Katy Waldman. McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St. RSVP.
New fiction from the author of Y/N, in conversation with the New Yorker staff writer. Details - 7 PM, Brooklyn: PSA Reading Series, with Joshua Bennett and Gabrielle Calvocoressi. Poetry Society of America Storefront. $10 in person, $5 livestream, free for members.
Two poets read from their work. Details - 7 PM, Manhattan: Poetry by Jay Gao, with Lynn Xu and Patricia Dailey. Book Culture on 112th Street.
An evening of poetry and conversation. Details - 7 PM, Brooklyn: Carolyn Steinhoff launches Delivered, with Caitlin Grace McDonnell. Lofty Pigeon Books. Free.
A launch and reading at the Kensington bookstore. Details
Friday, October 16
- 7:30 PM, Manhattan: Ben Katchor on Hotel and Farm, with David Yazbek. Strand Book Store, Rare Book Room, 828 Broadway. Ticketed.
The cartoonist’s new graphic book of 140 stories about hotels and farming. Details - 8 PM, Manhattan: On Translation, Craft, and Necessity. The Poetry Project, St. Mark’s Church Parish Hall. $10.
An evening on the work of translating poetry. Details
Next Weekend
Saturday, October 17
- 2 PM, Manhattan: Poetry in the Space of the Notebook, a panel with Anselm Berrigan, Emily Skillings and Lynn Xu, moderated by John Vincler. Poets House, 10 River Terrace. Free to $10; also on Zoom.
A conversation on Pierre Joris’s notebooks as places for writing and visual thinking. Details - 3 PM, Queens: Poets of Queens, with Naomi Leimsider, Marcia B. Loughran, Matthew Nisinson and Andrew Chi Keong Yim. QED, 27-16 23rd Ave., Astoria.
An afternoon reading by four Queens poets. Details
Sunday, October 18
- 2 PM, Brooklyn: A book talk with M.A. Knight, author of Feverchain. 540 President St., Suite 2C.
An afternoon talk with the author. Details - 6:30 PM, Queens: Verse4Verse: Drag + Poetry, hosted by Poison Oak. 60-47 Myrtle Ave., Ridgewood.
An evening of poetry and drag performance. Details
Reading This Week
My latest essay: Where Moral Authority Begins | Part VI: The Ohio River Valley, Holden Caulfield and the Seduction of False Prophets. More book talk in Openings on Substack.
Precious Ugly
My debut novel, a work of Appalachian literary fiction, is out from 7.13 Books. Learn more or order from Bookshop.org.
Lit Up NYC first appeared at Eckleburg: see the guide on Eckleburg.