this week in literature

PETER YARROW BENEFIT CONCERT

Peter Yarrow will perform a benefit concert for the Museum at Eldridge Street on September 20

Museum at Eldridge Street
12 Eldridge St. between Canal & Division Sts.
Monday, September 20, $36, 7:00
RSVP: 212-219-0888 ext205, hgriff@eldridgestreet.org
www.eldridgestreet.org
www.peterpaulandmary.com

As one-third of the folksinging trio Peter, Paul & Mary, Peter Yarrow sang such seminal songs as “If I Had a Hammer,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” “All My Trials,” “500 Miles,” and, of course, “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” a mix of traditional and original tunes that played an important role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Sadly, Mary Travers passed away in September 2009 from complications arising from her chemotherapy treatment for leukemia, but Yarrow is still keeping the flame burning, founding the nonprofit group Operation Respect, which works “to assure each child and youth a respectful, safe and compassionate climate of learning where their academic, social and emotional development can take place free of bullying, ridicule and violence”; displaying public outrage when Chip Saltsman sent “Barack the Magic Negro,” an insensitive reworking of Peter, Paul & Mary’s “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” to members of the RNC; and participating in the fight against colon cancer through his 2010 tune “The Colonoscopy Song.” He has also written or been part of a number of children’s books, including THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, set for release November 15 and featuring the final performance ever by Travers, singing to a new score of the title track by Yarrow. The Christmas book serves as the perfect lead-in to Yarrow’s latest project, a September 20 benefit concert raising funds for the Museum at Eldridge Street, site of a historic Lower East Side synagogue that is being lovingly restored. Tickets are only $36, with all proceeds going to the museum’s extensive cultural and educational programs.

LIVE FROM THE NYPL

Derek Walcott will deliver the Robert B. Silvers Lecture on December 3 at the New York Public Library

New York Public Library
Celeste Bartos Forum
11 West 40th St. at Fifth Ave.
Tickets go on sale Monday, September 13, at 10:00 am
Series runs September 20 – December 4
212-930-0855
www.nypl.org

Season tickets for the New York Public Library’s always exciting Live from the NYPL series go on sale September 13. This year’s all-star lineup includes Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Jonathan Lethem, Antonia Fraser, Edwidge Danticat, Zadie Smith, Derek Walcott, Ruth Reichl, Nicole Krauss, the Moth, W. S. Merwin, and Angela Davis in conversation with Toni Morrison, among others. There are also two very special musical guests, Keith Richards on October 29 and Jay-Z on November 15, for which tickets will be announced via an e-mail blast only.

NEW YORKER FESTIVAL

Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg will kick off the New Yorker Festival with a screening of their new film THE SOCIAL NETWORK, which will be followed by a Q&A with the two stars and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin

Multiple venues
October 1-3
Tickets: $25-$150 (most events $25-$35)
www.newyorker.com/festival

And they’re off! The race to get the hottest tickets to this year’s New Yorker Festival will begin September 10 at 12 noon, as literary snobs, wanna-be writers, and the glitterati battle it out to see conversations, lectures, book readings, live music, panel discussions, film screenings, and other events featuring such stars as Steve Carell, James Taylor, Justin Timberlake, Lorrie Moore, Yo-Yo Ma, Stephen King, Regina Spektor, Paul Goldberger, Ian Frazier, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Clarkson, Michael Chabon and Zadie Smith, David Simon, mumblecore masters Andrew Bujalski, Greta Gerwig, and Joe Swanberg, and many others. Good luck getting tickets for “Living History,” in which Peter Carey, E. L. Doctorow, and Annie Proulx share their thoughts with moderator Simon Schama; Paul Reubens talking about life, with Susan Morrison; Werner Herzog telling tales with Judith Thurman; Calvin Trillin’s annual tasting walk from Greenwich Village to Chinatown; a private tour of the Frick with Peter Schjeldahl; and “The Cartoon Caption Game,” in which audience members participate in a live caption-writing contest in the Condé Nast executive dining room.

HOWL! FESTIVAL 2010

Live painting surrounds Tompkins Square Park during Howl! Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Tompkins Square Park
Ave. A between Seventh & Tenth Sts.
September 10-12
Admission: free
www.howlfestival.com

The on-and-off Howl! Festival, celebrating the seminal work by Allen Ginsberg, is back in Tompkins Square Park this weekend, with free events September 10-12 on two stages, beginning with the group reading of “Howl” on Friday at 5:00, featuring Anne Waldman, John Giorno, Jennifer Blowdryer, Steve Dalachinsky, Mariposa, and many more, emceed by Bob Holman. Saturday and Sunday will include live art installations, yoga, a circus, Butoh dance, performance art, a musical tribute to Arthur Russell, poetry readings, and other very cool events, culminating with the “House of Howl!” variety show and “Low Life 4: Beat Girl.”

BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL

Former honoree Paul Auster will talk with 2010 BoBi award winner John Ashbery during Brooklyn Book Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Multiple locations in Brooklyn
Sunday, September 12, free, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
www.brooklynbookfestival.org

The fifth annual Brooklyn Book Festival takes place on Sunday, September 12, with a host of literary events at such locations as the Borough Hall Courtroom, St. Francis College Auditorium, and the Brooklyn Historical Society. The festival opens at 10:00 in the morning with the promising “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It),” with Steve Almond, Jennifer Egan, and Colson Whitehead reading from music-inspired writings, followed by a Q&A, as well as Stewart O’Nan, Siri Hustvedt, and T Cooper discussing “How Things Shake Out.” Jon Scieszka, E. Lockhart, and Mac Barnett will team up for “You’ve Got to Be Kidding,” Paul Krugman and Robin Wells will converse about “The Economic Crisis and What to Do About It,” Naomi Klein, Kurt Andersen, Jordan Flaherty, and Paul Reyes will get serious for “The Culture of Disaster: How Crisis Defines America,” while Kate Christensen, Sam Lipsyte, and Rakesh Satyal will get personal for “Me . . . in the World.” Amy Goodman and David Zirin will lead a tribute to the late Howard Zinn, Paul Auster will talk with 2010 BoBi award winner John Ashbery, Sarah Silverman will get down and dirty with David Rakoff, and Cristina Garcia, Steven Millhauser, and Peter Straub will delve into “Hallucinations of Your Neighbors.” Among the dozens of other participants are Dennis Lehane, Bernice L. McFadden, Michael Connelly, Francine Prose, Matthew Sharpe, Jacqueline Woodson, Phillip Lopate, Kristin Hersh, John Hodgman, Kristen Schaal, Adam Haslett, Kate Milford, Ben Katchor, Jessica Abel, Melvin Van Peebles, Mona Simpson, Pete Hamill, Venus Williams, Charles Fuller, and many, many more. Although all programs are free, some require advanced tickets, which will be distributed an hour before the presentation. There will also be a bevy of “bookend events” held September 10-12 at Light Industry, Greenlight Bookstore, Coco 66, the Bell House, powerHouse Arena, BAM Rose Cinemas, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and other spots, featuring film screenings, flash readings, live music, cocktail hours, and pizza; highlights include Rob Sheffield chatting up TALKING TO GIRLS ABOUT DURAN DURAN, Carolyn Kellogg in “An Intimate Conversation with John Waters,” Russell Banks discussing Atom Egoyan’s 1997 adaptation of his novel THE SWEET HEREAFTER after a screening of the film, live performances by Mountains and Lymbyc Systym, and a free showing of COSMOS: A PERSONAL VOYAGE in Brooklyn Bridge Park, complete with telescopes.

KIDS READING: NERDS BY MICHAEL BUCKLEY

powerHouse Arena
37 Main St., DUMBO
Saturday, September 11, free, 4:00
718-666-3049
www.powerhousearena.com
www.teamnerds.com

Brooklyn’s powerHouse Arena might be more well known for its cutting-edge art shows and photography books, but it also caters to the younger set. On Saturday afternoon, author Michael Buckley will be at the DUMBO institution for a reading and signing celebrating the release of NERDS 2: M IS FOR MAMA’S BOY (Amulet, September 2010), the follow-up to last year’s NERDS: NATIONAL ESPIONAGE, RESCUE, AND DEFENSE SOCIETY, which is now out in paperback. Buckley, who also wrote the bestselling series THE SISTERS GRIMM and is a longtime FOT (friend of twi-ny), is a favorite of kids, traveling across the country to schools, libraries, and bookstores to read chapters and engage youngsters’ mids with his zany stories. Future family-friendly readings and signings at powerHouse include Audrey Vernick’s IS YOUR BUFFALO READY FOR KINDERGARTEN? on September 14 and Tad Hills’s HOW ROCKET LEARNED TO READ on September 19.

OUT AND ABOUT: THE FINAL SHOW AT GIANT ROBOT NEW YORK

Artist Kelly Tunstall is part of the last show at Giant Robot New York, which is closing later this month (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

NEW WORK BY SUSIE GHAHREMANI AND KELLY TUNSTALL
Giant Robot
437 East Ninth St. between First Ave. & Ave. A
Through September 23
Admission: free
212-674-4769
www.grny.net

It was with great sadness that we attended the opening of “Out and About: New Work by Susie Ghahremani and Kelly Tunstall” on September 4 at Giant Robot in the East Village, and it had nothing to do with Ghahremani’s adorable gouache paintings on paper and wood of animals or Tunstall’s surreal portraits of women with elongated features. Instead, we were horrified to learn from store manager Mark Gilson that this would be the last show at Giant Robot, which will be closing its doors on September 23, a victim of the bad economy. (Ghahremani was also part of the second-ever show at Giant Robot New York.) “It’s been a fun ride and it’s all smiles,” company founder and Giant Robot magazine publisher Eric Nakamura wrote on his blog that night. “Imagine, as a much younger man, I’ve always wanted to have a shop in New York City and I did it.” Sure, that’s easy for Nakamura to say; he still has stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco, while we here on the East Coast will now have to look elsewhere to find unique and unusual toys, art books, and clothing and to see exhibitions by such artists as Matt Furie, Evah Fan, Scrappers, Deth P. Sun, Keith Shore, Souther Salazar, and many others. Giant Robot was a great place to start personal art collections, as most shows had prices that began at $100 or less for original pieces. Beginning September 8, Giant Robot will be holding a clearance sale, with items selling for thirty percent off, and there will be a series of special events leading up to the closing, so keep watching this space for more information as it becomes available.