The Rumpus & Electric Literature Present It’s Too Cold for This: A Holiday Reading
Tuesday December 15, 7 pm at Housing Works Bookstore Café. 126 Crosby Street
Is it really too cold for this? Really? To be fair, our two favorite online lit rags could not have predicted the unseasonably high temperatures (is it really in the 60s?) so we’ll give them a pass. Anyway, we bet their gathering of minds will top your awkward office holiday party.
Lincoln Michel, the editor-in-chief at Electric Literature and the author of Upright Beasts, will be on hand, along with Melissa Febos, author of memoir Whip Smart about her work as a professional dominatrix; Alexandra Kleeman, author of the surreal reality television debut, You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine; Alex Mar, author of a book exploring modern witchcraft across America, Witches of America; and Angel Nafis, author of the poetry collection BlackGirl Mansion. RSVP here.
(Via KGB Bar/ Facebook)
Drunken Careening Writers: Best Lesbian Erotica
Thursday, December 17, 7 pm at KGB Bar
This monthly series at KGB Bar is based on a few rules: readings should be short (i.e., 15 minutes max) and funny (nervous laughter is acceptable). Writers should be good, and better at reading out loud. Sounds like a plan. We can only guess what that’ll mean for this crop of seasoned lesbian erotica writers (laughter and erotica not normally being a go-to combination). The lineup includes R. G. Emanuelle, Sacchi Green, D. L. King, Annabeth Leong and Megan McFerren.
(Via McNally Jackson)
McNally Jackson Live: an evening with Annie Baker and Lynne Tillman.
Thursday, December 17 at 8 p.m. Mcnally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street
Ever afraid that your dolls are angry at you? Mcnally Jackson’s weekly “highbrow variety show” likes to gather fine minds for conversations on unexpected themes. Turns out playwright Annie Baker and author Lynne Tillman are both fascinated by the idea of inanimate objects invested with spiritual powers. Emily Stokes of T Magazine will moderate a string of readings from Annie Baker’s play John and Lynne Tillman’s book Haunted Houses, as well as excerpts from Nabokov, Von Kleist, and Rilke.
(Photo via Urban Word NYC Facebook)
Friday Night Slam, Featuring Crystal Valentine
Nuyorican Poets Cafe at 10 p.m. 236 E 3rd St (East Village): tickets $15 at the door, $25 in advance
The Friday Night Slam, where poets spit verses in exchange for votes, is the Nuyorican Poets Cafe’s most long-standing and popular tradition. But this week there’s an extra-special treat: Crystal Valentine, NYC’s Youth Poet Laureate, will be a part of the spectacle. The NYU senior is known for her powerful words on what she calls “black privilege” and femininity, as well as civic engagement.