this week in literature

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IN FOCUS 1980-2012

Fans carry Bruce Springsteen during Wrecking Ball tour (photo by Debra L. Rothenberg)

Rock Paper Photo Pop-Up Gallery
Gallery 151
132 West 18th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Wednesday, January 15, free, 6:00
www.rockpaperphoto.com
www.debrarothenberg.com

Since 1980, Northern New Jersey-raised Debra L. Rothenberg has been taking pictures of hometown hero Bruce Springsteen, capturing the Boss with the genuine glee of a true fan. “My life was breathing, photography, and Bruce Springsteen; nothing else mattered,” she recently said upon the release of her first book, Bruce Springsteen in Focus 1980-2012: Photographs by Debra L. Rothenberg (Turn the Page, September 2013, $44.95). In celebration of Springsteen’s latest record, High Hopes, Rothenberg, an award-winning photographer who has contributed to such publications as Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and, since 1999, the Daily News, will be signing copies of the book at a reception for her exhibit featuring many of her best Bruce snaps at Rock Paper Photo’s pop-up spot at Gallery 151. Part of the proceeds from sales of the book will go to the Alzheimer’s Association, the Light of Day foundation for Parkinson’s research, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. On January 18, Rothenberg will be at the Asbury Park Musical Heritage Foundation, where another display of her Springsteen photographs continues through March 2.

FIRST SATURDAY: ART ON THE EDGE

Screening of HEAVY METAL IN BAGHDAD is part of free First Saturday program at Brooklyn Museum

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, January 4, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum kicks off its 2014 monthly free First Saturdays program with a diverse collection of events centered around the theme “Art on the Edge.” The evening will include pop-up gallery talks, the Visual AIDS discussion “What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Museum: Art, AIDS, Activism, and the Institution,” an arts workshop with Pioneer Works on innovation and collaboration and another in which participants can make a mosaic tile inspired by the exhibition “Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn,” a Center for Urban Pedagogy talk on unique design, Purring Tiger performing excerpts from the multimedia dance work Mizaru, a screening of Suroosh Alvi’s 2007 documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, live music by Dendê and Band, Idgy Dean, and ScienZe (aka Jamal Monsanto) + the EllaVators, and a book club talk led by Barbara Browning about her dance novel, I’m Trying to Reach You. In addition, the galleries will be open late, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to check out “Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey,” “War / Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath,” “Twice Militant: Lorraine Hansberry’s Letters to ‘The Ladder,’” “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt,” “Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas,” “The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk,” and other exhibits.

BICARBONATE OF BUKOWSKI TRIBUTE READING

Bukowski fans can welcome the new year at annual memorial tribute reading at Cornelia Street Cafe

Cornelia Street Cafe
29 Cornelia St. between West Fourth & Bleecker Sts.
Friday, January 3, $8 (includes free drink), 6:00 – 8:00
212-989-9319
www.corneliastreetcafe.com

We’re not sure we’ve ever felt like Charles Bukowski probably felt after a New Year’s Eve bender, but we can’t think of a much better way to prepare for the next twelve months than at the fifth annual Charles Bukowski Memorial Reading at the Cornelia Street Cafe. On January 3, a diverse group of fans will descend on the West Village institution and read works by, about, and inspired by the author of such books as Factotum, Barfly, Poems Written Before Jumping Out of an 8 Story Window, Confessions of a Man Insane Enough to Live with Beasts, and Play the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit. Hosted by Kat Georges of Three Rooms Press, the evening includes poetry readings and performances by Mike Daisey, Peter Carlaftes, Angelo Verga, Richard Vetere, Michael Puzzo, Puma Perl, and Georges, videos of Bukowski, prizes, book and CD giveaways, and, appropriately, one free drink with admission. Also appropriately, a post on the bukowski.net forum noted in the past that this is “an event that would have made Bukowski wretch.” And if you want to read your own favorite piece by Bukowski or inspired by him, you can sign up to participate as well, but you need to get there before six.

THE 40th ANNUAL NEW YEAR’S DAY MARATHON BENEFIT READING

The Poetry Project at St. Marks Church
131 East 10th St. at Second Ave.
Wednesday, January 1, $20, 2:00 pm – 12 midnight
www.poetryproject.org

Every January 1, New Yorkers flock to the Poetry Project at St. Marks Church for the annual poetry marathon, consisting of readings by the famous and not-so-famous, poets and performance artists, journalists and musicians, welcoming in the new year while also raising funds for the nonprofit literary organization. This year’s marathon will include a raffle, a three-hour prime-time spot emceed by Sean Cole, and a trio of special-edition tote bags, as well as readings by nearly one hundred and fifty regulars and newcomers from multiple disciplines, among them Anselm Berrigan, Anne Waldman, Bob Holman, Bob Rosenthal, CA Conrad, Carolee Scheemann, Dynasty Handbag, Edmund Berrigan, Edwin Torres, Eileen Myles, Elinor Nauen, Elliott Sharp, JD Samson & Emily Roysdon, Jennifer Bartlett, Jennifer Monson & Chris Cochrane, John Giorno, John S. Hall, Jonas Mekas, Justin Vivian Bond, Legs McNeil, Lenny Kaye, Lynne Tillman, Maggie Dubris, Nick Hallett, Patti Smith, Penny Arcade, Philip Glass, Rachel Trachtenburg, Steve Earle, Tammy Faye Starlite w/ Steve Earle, Thurston Moore, Yoshiko Chuma, Yvonne Meier, and Yvonne Rainer.

FIRST SATURDAY: WANGECHI MUTU

Wangechi Mutu (Kenyan, b. 1972). The End of eating Everything (still), 2013. Animated video, color, sound, 8 min. Courtesy of the artist. Commissioned by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. © Wangechi Mutu

Wangechi Mutu, still from “The End of eating Everything,” animated video, color, sound, 8 min., 2013 (courtesy of the artist / © Wangechi Mutu)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, December 7, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The December edition of the Brooklyn Museum’s free First Saturdays program takes a look at Brooklyn-based Kenyan visual artist Wangechi Mutu in conjunction with the midcareer survey “Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey.” The evening will include a curator talk by Saisha Grayson on the Mutu show, an arts workshop demonstrating how to make Mutu-inspired collages, pop-up gallery talks, an artist talk by Nigerian-born Njideka Akunyili, a screening of Arthur Jafa and Kahlil Joseph’s 2013 documentary Dreams Are Colder Than Death about being black in America, live music by Pegasus Warning and Rebellum, a spoken-word performance by Saul Williams, and book club readings by Kiini Ibura Salaam and Bridgett M. Davis, followed by a discussion examining their work in the context of Mutu’s art, moderated by Tayari Jones and presented by Bold as Love magazine. In addition, the galleries will be open late, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to check out “War / Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath,” “Twice Militant: Lorraine Hansberry’s Letters to ‘The Ladder,’” “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt,” “Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas,” “Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn,” “The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk,” and other exhibits.

DAN LAURIA IN CONVERSATION WITH PETER FILICHIA

Society of Illustrators
128 East 63rd St. between Park & Lexington Aves.
Monday, December 16, free but advance RSVP required, 5:30
www.thegodfathertales.com
www.societyillustrators.org

In his first children’s book, The Blue Hair Club and Other Stories, actor Dan Lauria collects made-up stories he’s been telling his godson, Julian Farnsworth. The book is the first in a new series called “The Godfather Tales”; Lauria collaborated on the text (the book also includes “The Boy Who Built a Bridge Our of Carrots” and “The Story of the Sun”) with Julian’s mother, L.A.-based photographer Cathryn Farnsworth; the playful illustrations are by Brandon Morino. The Brooklyn-born Lauria, who starred as grumpy father Jack Arnold in The Wonder Years and is about to reprise his role as narrator Jean Shepherd in A Christmas Story: The Musical, running at the Theater at Madison Square Garden December 11-29, will be at the Society of Illustrators on December 16, in conversation with Star-Ledger theater critic emeritus Peter Filichia, discussing his long career onstage, on television, and in the movies, as well as the book. Also on hand will be the famous leg lamp from the show, along with members of the cast of the musical, who will perform excerpts from the book, followed by a signing. In addition, there will be fudge and a cash bar. Proceeds from sales of the self-published book ($21.73) will go to the nonprofit Front Door Agency, whose mission is “to offer support and provide services to assist individuals and families in their transition from crisis to self-sufficiency,” focusing on the needs of single moms and their children. Advance RSVP with the number of books you’d like to reserve is required.

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY: INDIES FIRST

Multiple locations
Saturday, November 30, free
www.indiebound.org

“Now is the time to be a superhero for independent bookstores,” bestselling author Sherman Alexie (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian) wrote in an open letter to “gorgeous book nerds” on September 1. “I want all of us (you and you and especially you) to spend an amazing day hand-selling books at your local independent bookstore on Small Business Saturday (that’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 30 this year, so you know it’s a huge weekend for everyone who, you know, wants to make a living).” And he set out a plan as well: “We book nerds will become booksellers. We will make recommendations. We will practice nepotism and urge readers to buy multiple copies of our friends’ books. Maybe you’ll sign and sell books of your own in the process. I think the collective results could be mind-boggling (maybe even world-changing).” Hundreds of bookstores around the country are participating in the one-day event; here in New York City, more than two dozen authors are scheduled to appear at fifteen locations, including LaShonda Katrice Barnett at 192 Books, Amy Brill, Jon Scieszka, and Matt de la Pena at the Community Bookstore, Paul Zelinsky, Michael Buckley, Ayana Mathis, Jeffrey Rotter, and Justin Torres at Greenlight, Jodi Kantor, Emily Jenkins, and Stefan Merrill Block at powerHouse, and Amy Shearn, Jennifer K. Armstrong, Sarah McCarry, Susannah Cahalan, Emma Straub, Tim O’Mara, Jami Attenberg, and Myke Cole at WORD. As Alexie concludes, “So join the Indie First Movement and help your favorite independent bookstore. Help all indie bookstores. Reach out to them and join the movement. Indies First!”