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Four Readings: Margo Jefferson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Americans in Revolt

TUESDAY

Photo © Michael Lionstar

Photo © Michael Lionstar

Margo Jefferson and Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah
August 23, 7pm at Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway at 12th Street.
Margo Jefferson’s acclaimed memoir Negroland, which The New York Times called “powerful and complicated,” explores her upper middle class childhood growing up in the 1940s, 50s, and early 60s while deftly avoiding racial and socioeconomic landmines. She deftly describes the racial identity politics inherent in her community’s attempt to be considered the exception to how other blacks were viewed by the white elite of her Chicago milieu. In order to celebrate the release of the memoir’s paperback edition, Jefferson will be joined by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, a New York Times Magazine contributor and essayist whose writing has appeared in The Paris Review, The Believer, Bookforum, and more.

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Four Readings: Klingon Blood Wine, Abortion Stories, and Refugee Poems

(Photo: Courtesy of Word Bookstore)

(Photo: Courtesy of Word Bookstore)

THURSDAY
Ed Gross presents: The Fifty-Year Mission
July 7, 7pm at Word Bookstore, at Villain LLC at 50 N 3rd Street.
Trekkies, this one’s for you! Word Bookstore and the event space Villain LLC will be hosting a launch party to celebrate the release of Ed Gross’s The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years, which diligently tracks the history of the Star Trek franchise and offers behind-the-scenes peeks at the show’s production and its impact on current pop culture. With Star Trek-themed cocktails such as the Romulan Ale or Klingon Blood Wine, Trekkies and newbies alike are sure to have an enjoyable evening. Ed Gross will be joined in conversation by the science fiction critic Ryan Britt, who is the author of Luke Skywalker Can’t Read: And Other Geeky Truths. Tickets are $5 and can be used toward the purchase of the book.
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Four Readings: Moby’s Memoir, Sex-Positivity in Action, and Notes From a ‘Loud Woman’

TUESDAY

action

Amy Rose Spiegel’s Action Launch
May 17 at 7 pm at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby Street
Ever wondered how to manage a threesome? How to actually pick someone up at an IRL bar (without resorting to creepy pick-up lines)? What about that weird thing you Googled last week (well, at least you remembered to close your porn tabs before screenshotting)? Finally, there’s a sex book for our current Swipe-Right Age, and one that you won’t be  embarrassed to tote on the subway (there’s no provocatively shaped fruit on the cover).

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4 Talks and Readings: Pretentiousness, Bad Women, and How to Smoke Pot

TUESDAY

Victorine

Release for Jacob Victorine’s Flammable Matter
April 19 at 7 p.m. at WORD Bookstore, 126 Franklin Street.
Jacob Victorine’s first book of poetry, Flammable Matter, bears witness to the metaphorical immolation of oppressed bodies in our world. It’s a raw and powerful testament to living through trauma. He’ll be joined by Rico Frederick, a Trinidadian author of the poetry collection Broken Calypsonian, and Justin Woo a Chinese-American poet and artist.

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4 Talks: Yoga-Class Erotica, Jack Bender’s ‘Picture Book for Adults,’ and More

TUESDAY

KuntaliniLove Thyself, Kunt: A Night with Badlands Unlimited
April 12 at 7 p.m. at KGB Bar, 85 East Fourth Street.
When Badlands Unlimited’s “New Lovers” series is involved, you know what to expect: no-holds-barred erotica with a surreal or even sick twist. Tamara Faith Berger will read from her new novel, Kuntalini, a story about a young woman named Yoo-hoo who experiences sexual awakening in her yoga class and embarks on a wild journey from there. Michael Robbins, author of poetry collection Alien vs Predator and Lynne Tillman, whose sixth novel Men And Apparitions is out next year, will also read.

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Talks + Readings: Social Movements of the 21st Century and ‘Coming Out’ for Porn

via Powerhouse Arena

via Powerhouse Arena

Book Launch: When We Fight, We Win!
Tuesday, January 5 at 7:00 p.m. at The Powerhouse Arena, 37 Main St, Brooklyn. (DUMBO)
The past year was filled with updates on the Black Lives Matter movement and a long-overdue Supreme Court victory for the LGBTQ movement. To take stock of the social movements shaping our world, turn to Greg Jobin-Leeds’ new collectionWhen We Fight, We Win!, a collaboration with AgitArte, profiles the successful activists and artists making waves behind the headlines you’ve seen flying by of late, from the fight to end mass incarceration to steps forward on immigration rights and environmental protection. The book launch will feature a conversation between Jobin-Leeds and AgitArte’s José Jorge Díaz, as well as remarks from activist leaders from the book, including Rachel Schragis, Felipe Sousa-Rodríguez, Isabel Sousa-Rodríguez, Che Gosset, Manissa McCleave Maharawal, Lily Paulina. RSVP at RSVP@powerHouseArena.com

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Talks + Readings: Jonathan Franzen, Jesse Eisenberg, and a Zine Maestro’s Photos

41khX3-lrrL._SX312_BO1,204,203,200_TUESDAY
All aboard “The Poetry Ville Express!” Four poets are inviting you to embark on an adventure at KGB Bar; according to the lounge’s website they want you to follow “their muses through the untamed realms of Poetry Ville – from avant romantic to nouveau commentary.” It’s “urbane grit served up with a side of Southern charm and a big old heaping of ‘holy shit.’” The poets: Lee Ann Brown, author of this year’s Other Archer as well as a string of other acclaimed works, including Polyverse, winner of the 1996 New American Poetry Competition; Wanda Phipps, author of Wake-Up Calls: 66 Morning Poems and coordinator for three years at The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church (bringing us epic New Years marathon readings each year); Mark Statman, whose most recent books include That Train Again and A Map of the Winds; and eco-activist Jeffrey Cyphers Wright (Party Everywhere), who published Cover Magazine until 2000 and currently publishes Live Mag!
Tuesday, Sept. 22 from 7 to 9 p.m. KGB Bar, 85 East 4th Street (East Village).
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Author Joshua Mohr Hopes San Francisco Gets Destroyed by a Radioactive Lizard

josh2

While New Yorkers can be blind to events in other cities, there are many reasons to sympathize with San Franciscans in Joshua Mohr’s new novel All This Life. Specifically, gentrification (the Mission is finally going the way of Williamsburg, in case you didn’t notice), addiction to tech, and a yearning for societal interaction that social media merely imitates.

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Talks and Readings: Manspreading Maven, Fierce Fat Girls and More

friday-night-lights-a-town-a-team-and-a-dream-b000p2xnl6-l-2TUESDAY
For those who only discovered (and promptly binge-watched) the show just a few years ago on Netflix, it’s a little weird to think the book that spawned Emmy-winning Friday Night Lights was actually first published in back in 1990. The classic account of the Permian Panthers follows the high school team’s 1988 season in Odessa, Texas. Says the blurb on Amazon: “Odessa is not known to be a town big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this small, dusty town going.” It’s good to know that the book is just as earnest as the show. Themes like racial and social divides in America’s small towns still hold up today, so snag a copy of the 25th anniversary edition (with updates on where the team members are now) and hear author Buzz Bissinger in conversation with the book’s editor, Jane Isay.
Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway (Noho).
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Talks and Readings: Boy Cyclops, ‘Coolest Female Poet,’ and Rise of the Robots

51NOCq7mErL._SX325_BO1,204,203,200_Tuesday

Rachel B. Glaser’s debut novel Paulina & Fran is celebrating its launch with readings from the author and special guests Leopoldine Core (Veronica Bench) and Mark Leidner (The Angel in The Dream of Our Hangover: Aphorisms). The novel is described as “a story of friendship, art, sex and curly hair.” It’s Glaser’s first full length work of fiction, but she’s already an accomplished writer with a published short story collection and book of poetry; her work has appeared in the anthologies 30 Under 30 and New American Stories, and Nylon has cited her as one of the “Coolest Female Poets to Know Right Now.” The conversation will be led by author Elisa Albert (After Birth).
Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. Housing Works Bookstore Café, 126 Crosby Street (Nolita).

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