this week in literature

CHARLES BUSCH — A BIRTHDAY EVENT

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF HIS FABULOUS CAREER
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
208 West 13th St.
Monday, August 23, $50 (VIP $75), 6:00
212-620-7310
www.gaycenter.org
www.charlesbusch.com

Charles Busch, the mastermind behind such cutting-edge plays as THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE, VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM, and SHANGHAI MOON and the star of such films as PSYCHO BEACH PARTY and DIE MOMMIE DIE! will be honored on the occasion of his fifty-sixth birthday August 23 at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center for a twenty-five-year career that has brought LGBT issues to the forefront in New York City and across the country. The event begins at 6:00 with a private VIP reception, followed at 7:00 by a screening of the documentary THE LADY IN QUESTION IS CHARLES BUSCH (John Catania & Charles Ignacio, 2005) with the filmmakers present. Busch will then talk about his life and career at 8:30 and perform a scene from THE DIVINE SISTER with Julie Halston, Alison Fraser, and Amy Rutberg; the play is reopening September 12 at the SoHo Playhouse. All proceeds benefit the Center and the Ark: the LGBT Stories Project. The event’s star-studded honorary host committee includes Christine Ebersole, Paul Rudnick, Angela Lansbury, Cheyenne Jackson, Joan Rivers, Dan Butler, and Kathleenn Turner.

FORT GREENE PARK SUMMER LITERARY FESTIVAL

Young writers will team with established poets at annual literary festival in Fort Greene Park (photo courtesy www.who-will-kiss-the-pig.blogspot.com)

Fort Greene Park monument
Washington Park between Dekalb and Myrtle Aves.
Saturday, August 21, free, 3:00
www.nywriterscoalition.org

The sixth annual Fort Green Park Summer Literary Festival, sponsored by the New York Writers Coalition, will take place on Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn, where young boys and girls between the ages of seven and seventeen, who have participated in six weeks of creative writing workshops, will give a free outdoor reading, alongside Calabash International Literary Festival poets Kwame Dawes, Gregory Pardlo, Willie Perdomo, Carl Hancock Rux, Patricia Smith, and Cheryl Boyce Taylor. As explained in its mission statement, “The Lit Fest honors the power of the written word to build inclusiveness and give voice to the thoughts and experiences of everyone, not just the privileged and powerful.”

DUELING BINGOS

DAILY SHOW correspondent John Oliver is looking for that final “O” so he can declare “Bingo” at Saturday night benefit for 826NYC (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

826NYC
372 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn
Saturday, August 7, $25, 7:00
718-499-9884
www.826nyc.org/bingo

You’ve never played Bingo like this before. Tonight at 826NYC in Brooklyn, you can test your mad gaming skillz against such celebrities as DAILY SHOW correspondent John Oliver, television producer Eric Gilliland (THAT ’70s SHOW), children’s book star Jon Scieszka (THE STINKY CHEESE MAN), comic actor Jack McBrayer (30 ROCK), and wonderfully droll author Sarah Vowell (ASSASSINATION VACATION) in what the nonprofit organization promises to be “the most cut-throat, single elimination, down-and-dirty, going-to-get-ugly, no-holds-barred Bingo Tournament ever held.” After signing up to play ($25) or to support one of the current competitors (any amount you want), you can buy additional cards at $10 each and balls for $5 apiece to increase your/their chances of winning. The evening is a benefit to raise funds for 826NYC’s free literacy programs for students between the ages of six and eighteen, which encourages creativity and learning through writing. The group also holds regular workshops and provides tutoring all year long.

JUST WORKING ON MY NOVEL

WORD Brooklyn
126 Franklin St.
Friday, August 6, free, 7:30
718-383-0096
www.wordbrooklyn.com

How’s that novel coming along? Ready to get some public feedback and also see what your fellow wannabe authors are up to? The next installment of Russ Marshalek’s “Just Working on My Novel” series takes place Friday night at WORD Brooklyn, hosted by Brooklyn-based actor and YA playwright Frank Anthony Polito, author of BAND FAGS! and DRAMA QUEERS! Polito will be reading from one published work and one work in progress, and anyone else is invited to read a five-to-ten-minute section of their own unpublished piece. An advance RSVP is strongly suggested to participate; you can always have a few glasses of cheap wine to loosen yourself up once you get there. As Marshalek says, “Lauren Conrad did it . . . twice. So YA can’t you?”

HARLEM WEEK

Multiple locations in Harlem around 135th St.
Through August 29
Admission to most events: free
www.harlemweek.com

Harlem Week is under way, and it’s much more than just seven days of special events and cultural activities; it actually continues through the end of August, featuring health and job fairs, a college expo, swimming, tennis, basketball, charity runs, and farmers markets in addition to film screenings and live music and dance, most of which is free. Tonight, Jazzmobile presents Houston Person in U.S. Grant National Memorial Park, while tomorrow the Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series continues with a performance at the Jackie Robinson Park Bandshell. On August 3, National Night Out will feature outdoor concerts, followed the next night by Tia Fuller in the Jazzmobile. (Future Jazzmobile musicians include Wycliffe Gordon on August 10, Akiko Tsuruga on August 18, and Jimmy Heath on August 21.) On August 7-8, ArtCrawl Harlem ($40-$55) will take art lovers on a trolley tour of such galleries as Casa Frela, the Dwyer Cultural Center, the LeRoy Neiman Art Center, and the Studio Museum in Harlem, followed by a reception with food, wine, and music. August 14 (“Summer in the City”) and 15 (Harlem Day), the NYC Children’s Festival is chock-full of special events and activities, with “Dancing in the Street” paying tribute to Bob Marley, the annual “Uptown Saturday Nite” celebration, free outdoor film screenings in St. Nicholas Park, “A Salute to the Children of Haiti,” a business expo, crafts markets, fashion shows, and more.

CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Rachel Dratch and others are back for more poignant celebrity readings at the Triad Theatre

Triad Theatre
158 West 72nd St. at Broadway
Monday, July 26, 7:30 & 9:30
Tickets: $35-$60 (two-drink minimum, cash only)
www.celebrityautobiography.com

America loves its celebrities, even more so after they share their very personal stories in poignant, moving, emotional memoirs in which they talk about their painful childhood and how hard a life they have despite the fame and fortune, the glitz and glamour. Well, a few years ago, Eugene Pack had the brilliant idea to honor the confessional tomes of superstar celebrities by reading their powerful stories onstage, with a diverse cast of performers in CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: IN THEIR OWN WORDS. No writer’s embellishment is needed as the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Brooke Shields, Matthew Broderick, Sally Struthers, George Wendt, Julie Chen, Mario Cantone, Jennifer Coolidge, Dick Cavett, Lesley Ann Warren, Alan Cumming, Joy Behar, and many more pay homage to such celebs as the Jonas Brothers, Vanna White, Sylvester Stallone, Mr. T, Elizabeth Taylor, Tommy Lee, Suzanne Somers, David Cassidy, Joan Lunden, and any other poor celebrity who has chosen to open up to their adoring public. The Drama Desk Award-winning show returns to the Triad Theatre on July 26 with Rachel Dratch, Kristen Johnston, Carol Kane, Michael McGlone, Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Mo Rocca, Sherri Shepherd, and Alan Zweibel at the 7:30 show, which is already sold out, but tickets for the 9:30 show are still available (with Annie Golden replacing Kane). You can also buy advance tickets for the next three shows, September 20, October 18, and November 22, although the roster of readers has yet to be announced. But does it really matter who is reading whom? It’s hard to go wrong when a bunch of actors and comedians get together to read the intimate stories of their peers.

AWKWARD FAMILY PHOTOS

AWKWARD FAMILY PHOTOS by Mike Bender & Doug Chernack (Three Rivers Press, $15, May 2010)
Barnes & Noble
97 Warren St. at Greenwich St.
Thursday, July 15, free, 7:00
212-587-5389
www.randomhouse.com
www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

What could be more fun than looking at someone else’s family photos? Well, what used to be a chore and a bore is now something completely different thanks to Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, who established awkwardfamilyphotos.com in May 2009, becoming an instant internet sensation. The website is now a book, divided into such thematic chapters as “The Family Portrait,” “Mom and Dad,” “The Kids,” “Siblings,” “Grandma and Grandpa,” “Pets,” “Birthdays,” “Holidays,” and, yes, “Vacation” and features such classic shots as “the Pile-On,” “the Lean,” “the Kiss Off,” and “Matchy-Matchy.” But the authors have not collected these photos — and tons of thousands more on their website — merely to make fun of people. As Bender and Chernack explain in the introduction, the book “is much more than just photos and stories. It’s about celebrating the family experience and shining a light on all of those deliciously awkward moments that come with the price of membership.” Bender and Chernack, who both work in Los Angeles in the film business, will be at the TriBeCa B&N on Warren St. on July 15 at 7:00 to discuss their tome and sign copies.