free (and almost free) readings

Not a day goes by in New York City without a free poetry reading or a book signing by a famous or not yet famous author. Please see below the schedule of free literary events in New York City and choose one (or more) to your liking.

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
Click on an event to see more details.

Fri, Sep 3 7:30PM	Open Mike Reading free	Open Mic Night with Stur Richards New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 12:30PM	Poetry Reading free	Poetry: Jocelyn Burrell / Monica A. Hand / Iain Haley Pollack New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 12:30PM	Book Reading free	New York Yankee Jorge Posada discusses his book The Beauty of Love: A Memoir of Miracles, Hope, and Healing New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Lee Houck discusses his book Yield New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Terry McMillan discusses her book Getting to Happy New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 7:00PM	Book Reading Free; reservations required	Geoffrey O'Brien reads from his book The Fall of the House of Walworth: Madness and Murder in Gilded Age America New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Chris Guillebeau discusses his book The Art of Non-Conformity New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Gregory Levey reads from his book How to Make Peace in the Middle East in Six Months or Less New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 7:00PM	Book Reading free	John Atlas reads from his book Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America's Most Controversial Antipoverty Community Organizing Group New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 7:30PM	Book Reading free	Koren Zailckas reads from her memoir Fury New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 7 9:00PM	Open Mike Reading $3	Penny's Open Mic New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 8 12:30PM	Book Signing free	CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo signs copies of The Weekend that Changed Wall Street New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 8 7:00PM	Book Reading free	National Book Award winner Jonathan Franzen reads from his book Freedom New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 8 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Simon Van Booy reads from his book Why Our Decisions Don't Matter, Why We Fight and Why We Need Love New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 9 1:00PM	Book Signing free	Arthur Nash signs copies of his book New York City Gangland New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 9 1:00PM	Book Reading free	Roy Cohen discusses his book The Wall Street Professional’s Survival Guide New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 9 7:00PM	Poetry Reading free	Poetry: Ken Chen / Gillian Conoley / Geoffrey Nutter New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 9 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Cristina Garcia discusses her book The Lady Matador's Hotel New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 9 7:00PM	Book Reading Free; reservations required	Mona Simpson reads from her book My Hollywood New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 9 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Robert Camuto reads from his book Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 9 7:00PM	Book Reading $5 suggested donation	Book Party for Rahna Reiko Rizzuto's Hiroshima in the Morning New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 9 7:30PM	Book Reading free	Producer Lloyd Schwartz discusses his book Brady, Brady, Brady: The Complete Story of The Brady Bunch as Told by the Father/Son Team Who Really Knows New York City, NY; NYC
Fri, Sep 10 6:00PM to 8:00PM	Book Reading free	Book Launch: Uwe Reinhardt's: Exhibition Design II New York City, NY; NYC
Fri, Sep 10 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Darin Strauss reads from his book Half a Life New York City, NY; NYC
Fri, Sep 10 7:00PM	Book Reading Free; RSVP required	Jonathan Green reads from his book Murder in the High Himalaya New York City, NY; NYC
Fri, Sep 10 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Writers Karen Lord and Julia Holmes read their work New York City, NY; NYC
Sat, Sep 11 1:00PM	Book Reading free	Readings from A Tale of Two Cities New York City, NY; NYC
Sat, Sep 11 1:00PM	Reading free	Readings from 9/11...NYC...The Days After... New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 13 6:30PM	Book Reading $5; call for reservations	Geoffrey O'Brien reads from his book The Fall of the House of Walworth: Madness and Murder in Gilded Age America New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 13 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Vincent J. Cannato discusses his book American Passage: The History of Ellis Island New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 13 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Sean Wilentz discusses his book Bob Dylan in America New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 13 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Frederic Tuten reads from his book Self-Portraits New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 13 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Lan Samantha Chang reads from her book All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 13 7:30PM	Book Reading free	Nigel Barker discusses his book Nigel Barker's Beauty Equation: The Art Behind the Science of Beauty New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 12:30PM	Poetry Reading free	Contributors read from The Oxford Book of Latin American Poetry New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Authors Darin Strauss and Jennifer Egan read from their work New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Roberta Brandes Gratz reads from her book The Battle for Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 6:30PM	Book Reading Free; RSVP required	Beatriz Rivera discusses her book When a Tree Falls New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 7:00PM	Book Reading free	James Victore discusses his book Victore or, Who Died and Made You Boss? New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Per Petterson reads from his book I Curse the River of Time New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 7:00PM	Book Reading free	NPR's Scott Simon discusses his book Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 7:00PM	Book Reading free	James Ellroy reads from his book The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Susan L. Hirshman discusses her book Does This Make My Assets Look Fat? New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 7:00PM	Reading free	Contributors to “Joyland” read New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 7:30PM	Book Reading free	Monica Diaz discusses her book Seven Days to Style New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 14 9:00PM	Open Mike Reading $3	Penny's Open Mic New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 15 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Samira Aghacy reads from her book Masculine Identity in the Fiction of the Arab East since 1967 New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 15 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Michael C. LaSala discusses his book Coming Out, Coming Home: Helping Families Adjust to a Gay or Lesbian Child New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 15 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Ghita Schwarz reads from her book Displaced Persons New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 15 7:00PM	Reading free	Rosecrans Baldwin reads from his book You Lost Me There New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 16 4:00PM	Book Reading free	Book Launch: Thomas de Waal's The Caucasus: An Introduction New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 16 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Jeff Byles reads from his book Rubble: Unearthing the History of Demolition New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 16 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Jonathan Safran Foer reads from his book Eating Animals New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 16 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Paco Ignacio Taibo II reads from Mexico City Noir New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 16 7:00PM	Reading free	Pierre Alferi's No Power Point, a Projected Reading New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 16 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Sigrid Nunez discusses her book Salvation City New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 16 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Tom Mccarthy reads from his book C New York City, NY; NYC
Sun, Sep 19 2:30PM	Book Reading $5	Thomas Buergenthal discusses his book A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 20 12:30PM	Book Reading free	Bestselling writer Nicholas Sparks discusses his book Safe Haven New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 20 6:30PM	Book Reading $5; call for reservations	MFA Alumni Reading: Nick Burd / Elizabeth Fodaski / Justin Taylor New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 20 7:00PM	Book Reading $5	Kati Marton discusses from her book Enemies of the People: My Family's Journey to America New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 20 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Photographer Nick Zinner discusses his book Please Take Me Off the Guest List New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 20 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Suzan Johnson Cook discusses her book Becoming a Woman of Destiny New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 20 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Tracy Anderson discusses her book Tracy Anderson’s 30-day Method New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 20 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Samuel Moyn reads from his book The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 20 7:30PM	Book Reading free	Marianne Leone reads from ger book Knowing Jesse: A Mother's Story of Grief, Grace, and Everyday Bliss New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 21 6:00PM	Book Reading free	Hardy Green discusses his book The Company Town New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 21 7:00PM	Book Reading free	David Rakoff discusses his book Half Empty New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 21 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Michele Norris reads from her book The Grace of Silence New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 21 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Eric Weiner discusses his book The Shadow Market New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 21 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Daniel Kehlmann reads from his book Fame: A Novel in Nine Episodes New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 21 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Writers Rahna Reiko Rizzuto and Kim Dana Kupperman read their work New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 21 9:00PM	Open Mike Reading $3	Penny's Open Mic New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 22 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Book Launch: The New Songs of the Ceiba New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 22 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Bestselling author Sara Gruen discusses her book Ape House New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 22 7:00PM	Book Reading Free; reservations required	Frederic Tuten reads from his book Self-Portraits New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 22 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Joshua Ferris reads from his book The Unnamed New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 22 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Guillermo del Toro reads from his book The Fall New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 22 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Roy Cohen discusses his book The Wall Street Professional’s Survival Guide New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 22 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Scott Spencer reads from his book Man in the Woods New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 23 4:00PM	Book Reading free	Robert Klara discusses his book FDR’s Funeral Train: A Betrayed Widow, a Soviet Spy, and a Presidency in the Balance New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 23 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Jane Ziegelman discusses her book 97 Orchard Street: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 23 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Jean-Christophe Valtat discusses his book 03: A Novel New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 23 7:00PM	Poetry Reading free	John Ashbery and other contributors read from Best American Poetry 2010 New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 23 7:00PM	Book Reading free	William Gibson reads from his book Zero History New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 23 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Former Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich reads from his book Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 23 7:00PM	Book Signing free	Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil signs copies of his book Tattoos & Tequila New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 23 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Thea Singer discusses her book Stress Less New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 23 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Jennifer Barbee & Alex Cohen read from their book Down and Derby: A Celebration of All Things Roller Derby New York City, NY; NYC
Fri, Sep 24 7:00PM	Reading free	2010 Rona Jaffe Foundation Awards Reading New York City, NY; NYC
Fri, Sep 24 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Marc Cenedella discusses his book You’re Better Than Your Job Search New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 27 12:30PM	Book Reading free	Former President Jimmy Carter discusses his memoir White House Diary New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 27 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Jeffrey A. Kroessler discusses his book The Greater New York Sports Chronology New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 27 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Gal Beckerman discusses her book When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 27 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Bonnie Taub-Dix discusses her book Read It Before You Eat It New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 27 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Charles Yu reads from his book How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe New York City, NY; NYC
Mon, Sep 27 8:00PM	Book Reading free	Daily Show host Jon Stewart discusses his book Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 12:30PM	Book Signing free	Tucker Max signs his book Assholes Finish First New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Alice Sparberg Alexiou reads from her book The Flatiron Building: The New York Landmark and the Incomparable City That Arose with It New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 7:00PM	Book Reading free	John Prendergast reads from his book The Enough Moment New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Thanassis Cambanis discusses his book A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah's Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Charles Seife reads from his book Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 7:00PM	Book Signing free	Nicole Richie signs copies of her book Priceless New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Garin Hovannisian discusses his book Family of Shadows New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Bestelling author Barbara Kingsolver reads from her book The Lacuna New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 7:30PM	Book Reading free	Bestselling author Ken Follett reads from his book Fall of Giants New York City, NY; NYC
Tue, Sep 28 9:00PM	Open Mike Reading $3	Penny's Open Mic New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 29 6:30PM	Poetry Reading $5; call for reservations	Poetry Forum with Phillip Lopate New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 29 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Lisa Kahane discusses her book Do Not Give Way To Evil: Photographs of the South Bronx, 1979-1987 New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 29 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Pulitzer Prize recipient Isabel Wilkerson discusses her book The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 29 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Thaddeus Russell reads from his book A Renegade History of the United States New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 29 7:00PM	Book Reading Free; RSVP required	Diane Wolff reads from her book Tibet Unconquered New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 29 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Al Jaffee & Mary Lou Weisman discuss their book Al Jaffee’s Mad Life New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 29 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Risa Lewak discusses her book Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer New York City, NY; NYC
Wed, Sep 29 7:30PM	Book Reading free	Henry Louis Gates, Jr. reads from his book Faces of America: How 12 Extraordinary People Discovered Their Pasts New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 30 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Peter Quinn reads from his novel The Man Who Never Returned New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 30 6:30PM	Book Reading free	Gerard T. Koeppel discusses his book Bond of Union: Building the Erie Canal and the American Empire New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 30 7:00PM	Poetry Reading free	Matthew Zapruder discusses his book Come On All You Ghosts New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 30 7:00PM	Reading Free; RSVP requested	An Evening of Villains with Slice New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 30 7:00PM	Book Reading free	James Gabbe discusses his book The Universe of Union Square New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 30 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Steven Kasher discusses his book Max's Kansas City; Art, Glamour, Rock and Roll New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 30 7:00PM	Book Signing free	Creflo Dollar signs his book Winning in Troubled Times New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 30 7:00PM	Book Reading free	Jean Christophe Valtat reads from his book Aurorarama New York City, NY; NYC
Thu, Sep 30 7:30PM	Book Reading free	Ntozake Shange reads from her book Some Sing, Some Cry New York City, NY; NYC