NEW HOURS: The Library is now open Mondays 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Tuesdays 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM | Wednesdays 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM | Thursdays 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM | Fridays 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Saturdays 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Sundays 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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SEMINAR | ONLINE | FOR MEMBERS ONLY
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Two Great Portuguese-Language Novelists, with Nicholas Birns
Wednesdays September 22, October 13, November 3, November 17, 11:00 AM
$60 for the four sessions | registration required
This seminar looks at two of the most renowned novelists in the Portuguese language, José Saramago and Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis.
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LIMITED SPACE STILL AVAILABLE! CONVERSATION | LIVESTREAM | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, The Personal Librarian: A Novel
Thursday, September 23, 6:00 PM
free of charge | registration required
A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray.
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CONVERSATION | LIVESTREAM | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Dantiel W. Moniz, Milk Blood Heat, and Deesha Philyaw, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Tuesday, September 28, 6:00 PM
$10 per person | registration required
A one-of-a-kind conversation between rising star fiction writers Deesha Philyaw (2020 Pen/Faulkner Award winner) and Dantiel W. Moniz (“a gorgeous debut” - Lauren Groff).
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LECTURE | LIVESTREAM | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Farah Jasmine Griffin, Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature
Thursday, September 30, 6:00 PM
free of charge | registration required
The brilliant scholar who served as guest curator for the Library's Black Literature Matters exhibition imparts the lessons bequeathed by the Black community and its remarkable artists and thinkers. This event is by-invitation for Members' Room seats; the livestream is free and open to the public, with registration required.
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SEMINAR | ONLINE | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Exploring Place and Space in Fiction with Claire Jimenez
Wednesdays October 6, October 27, November 17, December 8, 5:00 PM
$60 for the set of four sessions | registration required
In this seminar, we will read selections from Stuart Dybek, Edward P. Jones, Toni Cade Bambara, Tommy Orange, and Grace Paley to understand how each author animates place to create deeper meaning.
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NEW! THE WRITING LIFE | ONLINE | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Writing Together with Esther Cohen
Thursdays October 7, October 21, November 4, 2:00 PM (separate sessions)
on the Zoom Meetings platform | open to the public; free for members | registration required
In this free-form creative writing workshop, we will explore what we can say and ways we can say it, by writing and reading together. We will use examples from wonderful writers, prompts, current events, and ideas, knowing that everything has the possibility to become a story or a poem.
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MEMBERS' ROOM and LIVESTREAM | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Thomas Dyja, New York, New York, New York: Four Decades of Success, Excess, and Transformation
Thursday, October 7, 6:00 PM
Members' Room: $15 per person
Livestream: $10 per person
New York’s terrifying, if liberating, state of nature in 1978 also made it the capital of American culture. Over the next thirty-plus years, though, it became a different place. Thomas Dyja’s critically acclaimed account shows how this metamorphosis was, in large part, the story of New Yorkers from the poorest outsiders to the Masters of the Universe.
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THE WRITING LIFE | ONLINE | FOR MEMBERS ONLY
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Prompt! Fall 2021
Fridays October 8, November 12, December 10, 11:00 AM (separate sessions)
on the Zoom Meetings platform | free of charge | registration required
Come write with us on Friday mornings. 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.
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NEW! THE WRITING LIFE | WHITRIDGE ROOM | FOR MEMBERS ONLY
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Writing Through the City with Bhisham Bherwani
Fridays October 8, October 22, November 5, November 19, 2:00 PM
free of charge | registration required
How do poets employ, adapt, and respond to their urban environments while exploring their personal interests and obsessions? In this practical workshop, we will compose and revise poems informed by urban backdrops and experiences while addressing subjects that individually engage us.
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NEW! THE WRITING LIFE | WHITRIDGE ROOM | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Workshop: The Library of Memory: Recovering Your Story with Julia Ain-Krupa
Tuesdays October 12, October 19, October 26, November 2, November 9, November 16, 11:00 AM
free of charge | registration required
This 6-week workshop will explore new ways of connecting to storytelling and discovering how fulfilling writing one’s own story can be.
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THE WRITING LIFE | MEMBERS' ROOM | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Live from the Library Fall 2021
Thursday, October 14, 6:00 PM
$15 per person | registration required
Live from the Library returns to the Members' Room! Library members read from their own short stories, novels, poetry, criticism, memoir, and plays. Refreshments and wine will be served.
Readings are limited to five minutes or less, and readers must be current Library members. For a reading slot, contact Carolyn Waters.
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We're excited to be presenting in-person events beginning in October. All individuals attending in-person Members’ Room or Whitridge Room events will be required to show proof of vaccination (Excelsior Pass, vaccination card, photo of vaccination card) at check-in. Please note that we continue to monitor all the news about COVID-19, and we reserve the right to make changes to any or all events including postponement, cancelation, or a change to livestreaming only. Registrants will be contacted as far in advance as possible in the case of any such change.
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The Black Literature Matters exhibition is presented with generous support from The Florence Gould Foundation.
The Joseph J. Ellis event is a Henry S.F. Cooper Jr. Lecture on Early American History and Literature.
The Writing Life events in 2021 are generously underwritten by Jenny Lawrence.
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Quick Links
Library Hours
Monday and Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Saturday and Sunday 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
The Library will be closed Monday, October 11, for Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day.
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