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Readings, Lectures, and Nighttime Festivals in New York City

92nd St. Y, New York City
92nd St. Y, New York City
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As home base for the American news media, New York is matched only by London in the number of lectures and readings taking place every evening. The folks in charge of creating buzz for a new book, product, or policy know that by getting it in front of opinion-makers here, they have a better chance of getting it out to the rest of the world. Readings can be some of the most inexpensive and entertaining events in town; many are free, while others charge only a small cover or require audience members to buy a book from the author.

Good daily listings of talks, readings, and more can be found at thoughtgallery.org. There’s almost always a major author in town reading at one of the local Barnes & Noble stores.

  • The 92nd St. Y, at Lexington Avenue (tel. 212/415-5740; subway 4, 5, 6 to 96th St.). The top venue in the city for lectures and “conversations” of all types, the 92nd Street Y (originally called the Young Men’s Hebrew Association) has been a fixture of the Jewish community since 1845. And though many programs are devoted to Jewish topics, the vast range of talks in a Monday, Tuesday, and (sometimes) Thursday lecture series are more far-reaching, covering issues of health, politics, gastronomy, ecology, and the arts. Distinguished guests who’ve spoken here include scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, author Malcolm Gladwell, columnist Maureen Dowd, and domestic diva Martha Stewart.
  •  KGB, 85 E. 4th St., between Second and Third avenues (tel. 212/505-3360; subway F to Second Ave., 6 to Astor Place). This tiny second-floor bar (sadly, not wheelchair-accessible) in an East Village brownstone was once a Ukrainian social club and is decorated with vintage Communist memorabilia. Tickets are less than $20; 7pm for most events. Theme nights are curated by individual writers for poetry, mystery tales, science fiction, and other genres.
  •  Lectures on Tap. These 40 minute long lectures—by best selling authors, professors, and other brainy types—take place in bars around the city and tend to sell out weeks in advance. To see who will be talking when you’re in town, go to the website…and do it early, or you may not snag a seat.

You can also stop by Housing Works Bookstore Café, Book Club Bar, and Brooklyn bar Pete’s Candy Store for readings and discussions. There's also a great traveling literary events: The Moth live storytelling performances (www.themoth.org) that you may have heard on National Public Radio.

Festivals & Events

  • The New Yorker magazine (https://festival.newyorker.com) goes into the readings (and lecture and panel discussion) business with its New Yorker Festival every early October. You’ll pay around $30 for the privilege of seeing, say, Atul Gawande, Rachel Weisz, Sherman Alexie or Malcolm Gladwell talk about their work at one of several venues, but the events usually sell out in a flash. There are also free events and book signings throughout the festival.
  • Every New Year’s Day, the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, 131 E. 10th St. (tel. 212/674-0910; www.poetryproject.com; Subway: N or R to Union Sq.; 6 to Astor Place), presents a marathon poetry reading starting around 2pm, and running till . . . whenever. Poets and performers ranging from Patti Smith to Eric Bogosian, Maggie Estep, and many (many) more read to welcome in the new year and raise money for the Poetry Projects’ year-round readings, workshops, and events. Tickets run about $20.
  • Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th St. (tel. 212/864-5400; www.symphonyspace.org), is the home of both Selected Shorts (Oct–Dec) and Bloomsday on Broadway. In Selected Shorts, modern and classic short stories are read by professional actors like Blair Brown, Cynthia Nixon, and Denis O’Hare, who read authors like Truman Capote, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Curtis Sittenfeld. And each June 16 (the day Leopold Bloom took his stroll around Dublin in 1904 in James Joyce’s Ulysses), an ensemble cast of actors and avid Joyceans does a marathon reading from the masterwork. Its tickets are usually sold out well in advance.