The Library's reading and study spaces are open. |
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WE'RE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE the first of four events celebrating Black writers through history (like Olaudah Equiano, shown here): Black Literature Matters: The 1700s, (November 19)
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Heading into winter, here's an easy one: what book do you love to re-read (or do you look forward to re-reading)? ADD YOUR ANSWER HERE.
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SPECIAL PRESENTATION - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC |
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George Templeton Strong
Chronicler of New York
Wednesday, November 4, 2:00 PM
YouTube | free of charge | drop in
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of New York City diarist George Templeton Strong, recognized for his forty-year record of the city, and especially of the Civil War.
Join Library staff Harriet Shapiro and Cathy McGowan for a visit to Strong's 19th-century world with historical narrative, images, dramatic readings, and music. More details here.
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WRITING LIFE WORKSHOP - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC |
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Write What Life Feels Like Now with Esther Cohen
Thursdays November 5, November 19, December 3, December 17, 3:00 PM
It's an unusual year. There are so many words to say how we feel. Let's try together.
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LECTURE - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC |
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Lyndall Gordon
Outsiders: Five Women Writers Who Changed the World
Sunday, November 8, 2:00 PM
online | $10 per person | registration required
Mary Shelley, Emily Brontë, George Eliot, Olive Schreiner and Virginia Woolf: they all wrote dazzling books that forever changed the way we see history. As society's outsiders, the exceptional subjects of this study inspired a new breed of women―and one another.
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LECTURE - FREE FOR LIBRARY MEMBERS AND MEMBERSHIP LIBRARY MEMBERS |
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Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
As Much Truth as We Can Bear:
James Baldwin and Our America
Tuesday, November 10, 6:00 PM
online | registration through the Athenaeum of Philadelphia required
The Princeton University professor and author of Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own addresses the questions raised by Baldwin's 1962 essay "As Much Truth as One Can Bear."
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WRITING LIFE WORKSHOP - FOR MEMBERS ONLY |
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Writing with Tarot with A.E. Osworth
Wednesdays November 11, November 18, December 2, 6:00 PM
Feeling stuck in your writing? Uninspired? Overwhelmed? Break out your tarot deck and light up your prose practice with a little magic. In this three-session Writing Life seminar, learn to use this deck of 78 archetypes as prompts to shake out of your writing rut and surprise even yourself.
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CONVERSATION - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC |
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Peter Brooks
Balzac's Lives
with Edwin Frank
Thursday, November 12, 6:00 PM
online | $10 per person | registration required
Enter the mind of French literary giant Honoré de Balzac through a study of nine of his greatest characters and the novels they inhabit. Balzac's Lives illuminates the writer's life, era, and work in a completely original way.
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THE WRITING LIFE - FOR MEMBERS ONLY |
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Prompt!
with Terena Elizabeth Bell
Fridays November 13, December 11, 11:00 AM
Join your fellow member writers for a fun and stimulating hour and a half of prompts, writing, and sharing. Sessions are separate - attend any or all.
Terena Elizabeth Bell is a fiction writer. She has published in more than 100 outlets, including The Atlantic, Playboy, The Yale Review, Juked, and Natural Bridge. Follow her on Twitter @terenabell.
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NEW! LECTURE - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Adam Hochschild
Rebel Cinderella: From Rags to Riches to Radical, the Epic Journey of Rose Pastor Stokes
Monday, November 16, 6:00 PM
online | $10 per person | registration required
From the best-selling author of King Leopold's Ghost and Spain in Our Hearts comes the astonishing but forgotten story of an immigrant sweatshop worker who married an heir to a great American fortune and became one of the most charismatic radical leaders of her time.
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NEW! SPECIAL EVENT - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Black Literature Matters: The 1700s
Thursday, November 19, 6:00 PM
online | free of charge | registration required
In an original series of live online events, hear the voices of Black writers through history re-examined to inspire understanding of race in our country today. This debut presentation features works from the 1700s with dramatic readings, historical context, and images.
The event is hosted by Columbia University's Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin and Head Librarian Carolyn Waters, with actors Shontelle Thrash and Geoffrey D. Williams.
(At right: 18th-century writer Olaudah Equiano)
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NEW! ONLINE CHAT - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Bookstagrammers!
Sunday, November 22, 4:00 PM
Zoom | free of charge | drop in
Wecome to the book side of Instagram - where readers, writers, and librarians come together to celebrate books and encourage reading. Marialuisa Monda (@iamthelibrarydragon) and other Library staff chat with four major Bookstagrammers about their reading passions, libraries, bookstores, social media, and more. Bring your questions!
Our special guests:
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SEMINAR - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC |
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Puerto Rican Literature: From New York to Puerto Rico and Back
with Ivelisse Rodriguez
Thursdays December 3, December 17, January 7, January 21, 6:00 PM
online | $60 for the four sessions | registration required
The author of PEN/Faulkner finalist LOVE WAR STORIES explores memoirs, poetry, and fiction covering almost 100 years of Puerto Rican writing from the continental United States.
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OUTSIDE EVENTS OF INTEREST |
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International Book Club Open for a New Member
Two years ago a group of Library members formed the International Book Club. We meet once a month (currently on Zoom) on a Thursday at 6:00 PM and discuss novels by foreign authors. Past selections have included Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, All the Names by Jose Saramago, and An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine. If you are interested in joining a dedicated and animated group of readers, please email Joan Kreiss.
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The Royal Oak Society
Beyond the Figgy Pudding: Victorian Food and Dining in the World of Charles Dickens
Tuesday, December 15, 6:00 PM | register here | discount code for Library members: NYSL20
It wouldn’t be Christmas for many without the images of the steaming holly-bedecked Christmas pudding and roast goose with sage and onion stuffing made famous in Charles Dickens’s immortal holiday tale A Christmas Carol. In this illustrated talk, writer and food historian Carl Raymond will take us on a tour through highlights of Dickens’ stories, focusing on how he portrayed food and what is said about his most famous characters, with a general overview of Victorian food and dining.
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SAVE THE DATE! Celebration of Member Writers (December 14)
New events are added throughout the season.
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The Writing Life events in 2020 are generously underwritten by Jenny Lawrence. |
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Quick Links
Library Hours
Monday and Friday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Saturday and Sunday 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
The Library will close at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, November 25 and will be closed Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27, for Thanksgiving.
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