Lev Grossman spent the last decade crafting a universe filled with multiple worlds and the magic of wizards. But before he wrote The Magicians, he published a short novel titled Warp, about a depressed man obsessed with a love of science fiction and video games. With the success of The Magicians series, St. Martin’s Press re-released the debut novel with a new introduction. He was at Greenlight Bookstore to discuss the book with Dana Schwartz, a New York Observer Arts and Entertainment writer. Her debut novel And We’re Off is due out in the spring, followed by a memoir next fall.

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The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
Vica Miller Literary Salons.

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My news feed is plastered with the face of Colin Kaepernick, a player for the 49’ers who quietly decided to sit during the national anthem. Outrage about his refusal to stand is broadcast across platforms: on television, in periodicals, in the comments sections of social media posts.

When wading through the vast swamp of news items and opinions delivered to my screen, it is usually my instinct to avoid any football related content. But my eye glimpsed a post from a friend of mine who shared Kaepernick’s statement about the incident:

I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses

black people and people of color… To me, this is bigger than football and it

would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street

and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.

And in the few seconds it took to read those words, Colin Kapernick won my attention.

*

Since 1977, North Bergen High School’s football team has won six state championships in New Jersey. The number would have been seven, but after winning the 2011 championship they had their title stripped when it was discovered that they had been using unethical recruiting methods (the team’s two star players were tenants of coach Vincent Ascolese, who coerced them to transfer to NBHS to play for him).

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Alexandra Kleeman, author of the novel You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine, launched her first collection of short stories, Intimations, at McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan. She was joined in discussion of the collection by her husband, Alex Gilvarry, author of the novel From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant.

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Amy Dupcak is a lot like her prose. On the surface: bright, elegant and meticulous. What lies beneath however, in both the woman and her work, is a relentless commitment to illuminating life’s quirky, raw underside.

In her searing debut short story collection, Dust, Dupcak unflinchingly gets under the skin of a tribe of fascinating young characters that offer insights beyond their years. Anchored with lush tangles of prose, Dupcak’s stories not only touch but often scorch the heart.

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Imbolo Imbue launched her debut novel Behold the Dreamers at Powerhouse Books with a discussion with Cameroonian author Patrice Ngangang. The novel explores immigration and class as it follows the lives of a Ghanaian immigrant in Harlem, New York working for a wealthy family during the great banking crisis.

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The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
Lyrics, Lit & Liquor is an alliterative description of the music, readings, and (optional) alcoholic beverages one can expect at the series.

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The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
Sackett Street Writers Reading/Event Series. The monthly events that Sackett Street organizes are aligned to the overall mission of the writers workshop Julia Fierro founded to celebrate emerging and established local writers in the NYC area.

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