All events are based in New York City, however, they are all virtual and most of them are free.
The pandemic is scary enough, but don’t let it ruin your chance at some real spooky content for October. Don’t miss out on these events.
The Strand
Anais Mitchell with Patrick Page: Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown
October 7th 7:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M.
Join the Strand for a virtual event on Crowdcast with Tony award-winning singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell and tony award-nominated actor Patrick Page to celebrate the release of Anais’ book Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown.
Pick your poison because also on, October 7th, 7:00 P.M.- 8:00 P.M.
Kristie Sollee with Pam Grossman: Witch Hunt: a Traveler’s Guide to the Power and Persecution of the Witch
Join the Strand for a virtual event on Crowdcast with authors Kristen Sollee and Pam Grossman to celebrate the release of Kristen’s new book Witch Hunt: a Traveler’s Guide to the Power and Persecution of the Witch. This event will also be live-streamed on the Strand’s Facebook Page.
Gabbie Hanna: Dandelion
Thursday, October 15th, 7:00 P.M.- 8:00 P.M.
New York Times bestselling author Gabbie Hanna delivers everything from curious musings to gut-wrenching confessionals in her long-awaited sophomore collection of illustrated poetry.
Click here to register.
Books Are Magic
Francina Simone: Smash It! w/ Olivia Cole
October 1st, 7:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
Olivia “Liv” James is done with letting her insecurities get the best of her. So she does what any self-respecting hot mess of a girl who wants to SMASH junior year does. She makes a list—a F*ck It list. Read more about the author and host here.
Click here to register
Greenlight Books
*This event is not free and the book is a children’s book but worth mentioning!
($$) Chelsea Clinton presents She Persisted in Sports: American Olympians Who Changed the Game
October 1st, 2020 Live via Zoom at 5:00 P.M.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Chelsea Clinton will join Greenlight Bookstore on October 1 at 5 PM for a live virtual event to celebrate the launch of She Persisted In Sports: American Olympians Who Changed the Game. The event will take place on Zoom, where you can submit questions to the host during the event. A purchase of She Persisted in Sports is required to register for the live Zoom event.
Click here to buy tickets.
Poets House
Scarlet Tanager Books Presents Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California
October 10th, 4:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California is an anthology about California ecosystems. It celebrates the natural world and also addresses such urgent issues as climate change, extreme weather, pollution, invasive species, and loss of species and habitat. Co-editors Lucille Lang Day and Ruth Nolan will read with contributors Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Patricia Brody, Mary Makofske, Heidi Sheridan, J.C. Todd, and Anne Whitehouse. A discussion with the audience will follow. Read more here.
Click here to register.
Virtual Bronx Book Fair
October 2nd, 6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
Virtual Bronx Book Fair starts October 2, 2020 and ends October 5, 2020. Poets Network & Exchange is the produce and host of the annual Bronx Book Fair aka The Peoples Book Fair. Featured are panel discussions, keynote speakers, literary presentations, poets, authors, publishers, book vendors, writing workshops, and an open mic. It’s free and open to the public.
Click here for more information
Bluestockings
Feminist Book Club!
October 4th, 2:30-4:30 P.M.
Bluestockings is an independent bookstore, café, and activist resource center, located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Their Feminist Book Club reads and discusses feminism. We make no claims to any particular feminist platform. We read theoretical texts, literature, and primary works. All are welcome inclusive of gender, political persuasion, and familiarity.
For more information email: feministbookclubnyc@gmail.com
Sacraments for Queers: Our Lady of Perpetual Degeneracy Book Launch
October 13th, 7:00 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
Robin Gow (they/them or ze/hir) is a trans and queer poet and young adult author. Join them for a performance from their debut poetry collection Our Lady of Perpetual Degeneracy, a book that asserts the possibilities for queer/trans sexualities and genders in Catholic saints. Expect costumes changes and camp. Reading followed by a conversation with queer poet, Rachel Stempel.
Click here to register & access Zoom link.
Community Bookstore, Park Slope
($$) Yaa Gyasi presents “Transcendent Kingdom,” with Megha Majumdar
October 7th, 7:30 P.M.
Yaa Gyasi’s stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national bestseller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.
Click here for more information and tickets.
The Poetry Project
Boo: Ghosts and the Unconscious for Utopian Dreaming hosted by Claire Donato and Adrian Shirk
October 1st, 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M.
What can the outer realms instruct us about what’s to come? How can the departed, the astral, the ancestral, the dream, the fantasy, the ghost be work with as co-creators in imagining utopia(s)? A packet of recommended reading will be sent out before the class. All you need to bring is yourself, something to write with/on, Halloween candy, an open heart, and a dream journal (if you keep one). Boo. Click here to sign up!
Third House Books and Burrow Press
Meet The Authors: Raven Leilani + Sarah Gerard
October 6th, 6:00 P.M.
Raven Leilani is the author of the debut novel, Luster. Her work has been published in Granta, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Yale Review, Conjunctions, The Cut, and New England Review among other publications.
Sarah Gerard is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. She has written popular essay collection Sunshine State (Harper Perennial, 2017) and novels Binary Star (2015) and True Love (2020).
Click here to save your spot!
Story art: Gabriella Shery is an illustrator, graphic designer, and comic artist from Brooklyn, New York. You can find her work on Instagram @gabshery, or on her website at gabriellashery.com
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