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?
Halfway There: a reading series in Montclair. The phrase “halfway there” is lifted right from the Bon Jovi anthem “Livin’ On a Prayer.” We are a New Jersey series and wanted something that reflected Jersey. Since we are a series that supports the emerging author, the term “halfway there” has extra significance.

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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.

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Kristopher Jansma’s debut novel, The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards explored the competition and jealousy of two close friends during their formative years. His latest novel, Why We Came to the City, dives into the complications of a group of friends as their relationships mature, and perhaps even, outgrow each other. He was joined by Isaac Fitzgerald, books editor at BuzzFeed, to discuss the novel at Community Bookstore in Brooklyn.

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Idra Novey launched her debut novel Ways to Disappear at Housing Works. She spoke with writer and critic Nell Freudenberger. Novey, who has published poetry, has also worked as a translator including a novel by Clarice Lispector. Ways to Disappear follows the story of a translator searching for her author who has recently disappeared.

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Alexander Chee launched his latest novel, The Queen of the Night, last week at McNally Jackson Books. The novel follows Parisian opera singer Lilliet Berne on a personal adventure through her past mysteries. Chee spoke with his friend, the critic Maud Newton, about the book and the process of writing it over the last fifteen years.

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Crown Heights has a new reading series. The product of a collaboration between Manhattanville Coffee and Penina Roth, the monthly event launched last week. The series is designed for emerging writers, and each event will feature one published author as a headliner along with several other writers who are yet to have published a book.

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Helen Klein Ross was at BookCourt last week to read from her new novel, What Was Mine, about a woman who has stolen a baby girl and raised it as her own.

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Helen Ellis launched her new collection of stories, American Housewife, at Powerhouse Arena on Tuesday. Ellis is a housewife living with her husband in New York City, but she is also a poker player playing tournaments around the country.

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