The literary world in New York is a vibrant, lively, public world. Poets, fiction-writers, and other authors frequently read their work aloud in public settings, participate in Q&A’s with their audiences, and discuss the writing craft. Sometimes multiple authors read together; other times a single author takes the spotlight. These readings are more than just story-time for grown-ups. They are performances, in which authors become performers, and readers become spectators. The poem (or bit of prose) at a reading operates like a musical score: brought to life in a new way when performed out loud.
For this next blog post, you will attend a reading: that is, a public oral performance of a literary text or texts. The reading can be of poetry or prose, fiction or non-fiction. (Below, you will find a list of suggestions on how to find a reading). You have two weeks to complete this post—this will allow you to choose from a wider range of readings, on a wider range of dates. By Sunday 11/4 at 9 pm, post to the blog
- A detailed account of who you saw reading, what they read, and when and where they read it.
- Visual documentation of your attendance at the reading: a photograph of you in the bookstore or lecture hall; a photograph of the crowd, a photo of you with the writer (if you’re feeling bold!)
- A 500-750 word reflective essay on the experience of attending this particular reading. How did the author perform his or her work–how much did s/he dramatize? How did voice, gesture, posture, and sheer embodiment augment the words, or bring those words to life? As a spectator, how did listening (and watching) in public differ from the more common practice of reading silently to oneself in public? What did you learn about the craft of writing, either from the author’s comments or from the Q&A? (You will be doing some creative writing in a future blog post, so be thinking about this!)
Also by Sunday 11/4 at 9 pm, you should update the class map to reflect where you attended a reading. We will create a new layer for this assignment. Your map update should include an image and a brief description, as well as a location!
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Where should you go, to attend a reading?
If you want to search by date to see what’s available, the organization Poets & Writers has a nifty tool for that! https://www.pw.org/calendar
Universities sometimes have readings that are free and open to the public. In fact, there’s one coming up at Baruch: the Fall Poetry Revel, at which students in creative writing classes share their work (all are welcome to share, however, so if you’re a poet, you can also present here). Baruch’s Poetry Revel is on Wednesday, October 31 at 3:00 PM, room 14-270 in the VC.
Libraries are also a good bet–check out your local branch library, or the main branch of the NYPL.
For those of you who want to go further afield–and I strongly encourage you to do this–NYC bookstores have frequent readings. Check your local bookstore, or look at the events schedules for McNally Jackson (lower Manhattan), Greenlight (Fort Greene and Lefferts Gardens), Berl’s Poetry Shop (DUMBO), the Strand (near Union Square), Codex Books (East Village). These are just a small handful of the bookstores that have frequent readings!
Finally, there are a several venues dedicated to literary events in the city. You may attend a poetry slam at the Nuyorican Poets Café, a reading at the Poetry Project, or an evening at the Bowery Poetry Club or KGB Bar and Reading Room. Unlike bookstore readings, these are not always free, so double check in advance (and pay, absolutely, if you want to!).
NOTE: Some events at some venues are 21+, so double-check before you make your choice.
