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?
Rooftop Readings NYC. It’s fairly simple and straightforward: readings on rooftops. But the name is more than a physical location — it’s also an idea. We see this as an experiment in re-appropriation of an underutilized space, where we can use the environment and the cityscapes to enhance the experience of attending literary readings. Independently, each activity is poetic and profound, offering equal escapes from a city of constants. Together, they equal an entirely new creation. How often are you able to stand on a rooftop and view the skyline of Manhattan? You’re listening to excellent writers read while watching the sun slip behind a city containing the best literary community in the world.

More »

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?
Say Yes

The name is a call to positivity and cooperation, as our collective aims to truly build a community in addition to providing space for performance. When we say yes to each other, it’s pretty amazing to see what can happen.

More »

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?
I feel it’s always been a bit of an identity crisis, our name. We, the reading series, are also we, the literary journal, The Atlas Review. At times I have called what the reading series is simply The Atlas Reading Series. Other times, I call it—even more simply—Atlas. When I ask people to read for the series, I explain that we are a journal that publishes work in all genre biannually and, to supplement our volumes, we have a monthly reading series. The series of Atlas helps to keep the journal of Atlas on the map, as it were. Are maps involved in the reading series? Nope. But if you want to involve a map, we’ve got a whole multimedia option for your set.

More »

Benjamin Moser has spent the last twelve years of his life immersed in the Brazilian author Clarice Lispector. He has written a biography of her, translated and edited her works, and most recently contributed to the The Complete Stories, translated by Katrina Dodson. He was at WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn to discuss Lispector’s life and work along with the novelist Porochista Khakpour, at an event hosted by Vol 1 Brooklyn.

More »

Alexandra Kleeman’s debut novel You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine has attracted widespread positive attention. The launch of the novel at PowerHouse Arena was a virtual who’s who of young literary Brooklyn with the audience including many of the summer’s other popular literary debut novelists. Kleeman was joined in conversation by Buzzfeed Books editor Isaac Fitzgerald.

More »

Jennifer Pashley was at WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn to discuss her novel, The Scamp. The book explores small town, post-industrial America through the eyes of two women. Rayelle is trying to escape her life, and signs on to help investigate the disappearance of women in the area. Khaki has a darker, more troubling past–she’s responsible for the disappearing women. Pashley discussed the novel with Julia Fierro, founder of the Sackett Street Writers Workshop and author of Cutting Teeth.

More »

Helen Phillips was at McNally Jackson books discussing her debut adult novel The Beautiful Bureaucrat with Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation. Phillips previously published the short story collection And Yet They Were Happy, as well as a children’s adventure book Where the Sunbeams are Green.

More »

Kathleen Alcott launched her latest novel, Infinite Home, at Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn. She discussed the book with writer Valerie Luiselli. The novel focuses on the assorted residents of a Brooklyn brownstone.

More »