free things to do in New York City
| < | June 2025 |
> | ||||
| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City! Read More
Are you looking for literary events like book readings, book signings, poetry readings? Then you came to the right place. Start using these unique New York City opportunities today!
Are you looking for literary events like book readings, book signings, poetry readings? Then you came to the right place. Start using these unique New York City opportunities today!
Join the Club!
The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.
So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!
The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.
So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!
38 free poetry readings, book signings, author readings in New York City (NYC) Sat, 06/14/2025 - and on...
Not a day goes by in New York City (NYC) without a free poetry reading or a book signing or a book reading by a famous or not yet famous author. Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides!
Poetry Reading | An Evening of Poetry & Music
Poet-in-Residence Mahogany L. Browne, a prolific writer and avid advocate for public art, continues her wildly successful multidisciplinary series. Browne has written works of fiction, stage plays and critical essays, edited six anthologies, and authored another half-dozen poetry collections. For her signature series now in its third season, Browne curates thought-provoking evenings of spoken word, spirited conversation, and presentations of new work. The evening's featured poets include: Santa Clara County's first Black Poet Laureate Tshaka Campbell, and Abiodun Oyewole, also known as Abiodun of The Last Poets, an author, teacher, and founding member of the American music and spoken word group The Last Poets. Music will be spun by DJ Jive Poetic. There are two ways to access this event: 1. General Admission, first-come first-served. Just show up! 2. Fast Track opening the Monday before the event at noon.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Sun, Jun 15
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Signing | Author Bruce Handy Celebrates New Book on History of Teen Movies
This event is a conversation with journalist, critic, humorist, and children’s book author Bruce Handy to celebrate his new book, a delightfully fun, intelligent, and perceptive history of teen movies. He'll be speaking with Didion and Babitz author Lili Anolik, followed by a signing. Hollywood High by Bruce Handy with Lili Anolik: Bruce Handy's lively, provocative, and affectionate cultural history of teen movies.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Mon, Jun 16
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Signing | Bestselling Authors Talk LGBTQ+ YA Books
Celebrate Pride at a bookstore as it hosts a three day long festival celebrating queer literature and community. Rounding out the festival is the "GYA??" Panel with authors Zakiya Jamal (IF WE WERE A MOVIE), Alice Lin (LOVE POINTS TO YOU), Page Powars (AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES), Brian Selznick (RUN AWAY WITH ME), and K. Wroten (EVERYONE SUX BUT YOU), moderated by David Levithan. PLEASE NOTE:
This is a one-hour discussion, followed by a signing line with all authors.
Authors will sign and personalize books, but purchasing a book by one of these authors from the hosting bookstore day of is required to join the signing line. Proof of purchase will be required.
Authors will pose for photos. A staffer will be on-hand to take your photo.
Merchandise at the event is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ticket holders will be admitted into the event beginning at 5:30 PM the day of the event.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Mon, Jun 16
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Contemporary Poetry with Acclaimed Poets
Join two acclaimed voices in contemporary poetry for an evening of readings. Joan Larkin, author of Old Stranger (2024) and recipient of the Shelley Memorial Award and Academy of American Poets Fellowship, will share selections from her celebrated body of work. Elaine Sexton, poet, critic, and author of Site Specific: New & Selected, will bring her distinctive perspective shaped by years in both the literary and visual arts worlds.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Mon, Jun 16
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Author & Performer Discusses His New Book about Displaced Music Culture in NYC
Author and pioneering klezmer performer Walter Zev Feldman discusses his book From the Bronx to the Bosphorus: Klezmer and Other Displaced Musics of New York with Princeton Professor of Near Eastern Studies Andras P. Hamori. From the Bronx to the Bosphorus explores the vibrant, yet largely concealed, musical culture of New York, tracing its origins to a period when the city served as a crucible for immigrants and their diverse musical expressions. Walter Zev Feldman chronicles his journey through the musical landscapes of post-WWII New York--from the declining world of East European immigrant klezmorim to the dynamic environments of Greek, Armenian and Caucasian musicians. The episodes from his earlier life related here portray the mysterious legacy of these forgotten ancestors in mid-twentieth century New York. Walter Zev Feldman is a leading researcher in both Ottoman Turkish and Jewish music. During the 1970s he spearheaded the revival of klezmer music. Today he is a performer on the klezmer dulcimer, the cimbal, and on the Ottoman lute, the tanbur. He had taught at Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, Bar Ilan University and at NYU Abu Dhabi. Between 2011 and 2015 he researched the Jewish, Roma and Greek musical traditions of Moldova/Bessarabia, sponsored by NYU Abu Dhabi. Feldman is also an authority on Ashkenazic dance, forming part of his current research on the role of gesture in the performing arts, which he taught in the NYU Abu Dhabi core course "Gesture" (2013-15) and in NYU on the Square (2018). In 2017 he gave a series of workshops on this topic in Tokyo, Moscow, and Montreal. In 2004 he co-directed the successful application of the Mevlevi Dervishes of Turkey as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity for UNESCO.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Mon, Jun 16
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Author Reading | Transit Tourism: Explore Subway Systems around the World with New Book
David Seltzer celebrates the release of his illustrated set of essays, Transit Tourism, exploring the iconic art and design of subway systems around the world. In conversation with Josh Bach, followed by a signing. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 pm.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jun 17
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Signing | Kate Spade Co-Founder Discusses & Signs Her New Book, We Might Just Make It After All
Elyce Arons discusses and signs her new book, We Might Just Make It After All, with Blair Eadie. The book is a moving portrait of friendship by Elyce Arons as she reflects on her long relationship with Kate Spade, whom she met in college and went on to cofound the multi-billion-dollar fashion company as they came of age in 1990s New York. Elyce Arons is the cofounder of Kate Spade and cofounder and CEO of Frances Valentine. Arons began her career in publicity and marketing before starting the multi-billion-dollar bag company Kate Spade alongside Katy, Katy's husband, Andy, and Pamela Bell out of a downtown New York City apartment. She has been featured on Good Morning America and Today, and in People, WWD, New York Magazine, and more. Arons lives in New York with her husband and three daughters. A purchase of We Might Just Make It After All from the bookstore is required to join the signing line at this event. Please call ahead and speak to a bookseller and reserve your copy.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jun 17
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Prize-Winning Authors Launch of Two New Books
This event is a celebration of Mothersalt by Mia Ayumi Malhotra and Becoming Ghost by Cathy Lin Che, featuring readings by Sahar Muradi and Eugenia Leigh! Mia Ayumi Malhotra is the author of Mothersalt and Isako Isako, a California Book Award finalist and winner of the Alice James Award, Nautilus Gold Award for Poetry, National Indie Excellence Award, and Maine Literary Award. She is also the author of the chapbook Notes from the Birth Year, winner of the Bateau Press Chapbook Contest. Cathy Linh Che is a writer and multidisciplinary artist. She is the author of Becoming Ghost, Split and co-author, with Kyle Lucia Wu, of the children's book An Asian American A to Z: a Children's Guide to Our History. Her video installation, Appocalips, is an Open Call commission with The Shed NY, and her film We Were the Scenery won the Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction at the Sundance Film Festival. Sahar Muradi is author of the collection Octobers, selected by Naomi Shihab Nye for the 2022 Donald Hall Prize for Poetry and a finalist for the National Poetry Series. She is author of the chapbooks [ G A T E S ], Ask Hafiz, and A Garden Beyond My Hand, and co-editor, with Seelai Karzai, of EMERGENC(Y): Writing Afghan Lives Beyond the Forever War, An Anthology of Writing from Afghanistan and its Diaspora. Eugenia Leigh is a Korean American poet and the author of Bianca and Blood, Sparrows and Sparrows). Her poems and essays have appeared in numerous publications including TIME, The Nation, Poetry, Ploughshares, Waxwing, and the Best of the Net anthology. Eugenia serves as a Poetry Editor at The Adroit Journal and as Valentines Editor at Honey Literary.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jun 17
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Discussion on Women in Art with Authors of New Book: Anonymous Was a Woman
Celebrate the publication of Anonymous Was a Woman: The First 25 Years, which documents the transformative impact of women artists on contemporary art since the founding of the titular grant. Alexandra Schwartz, curator at the Museum of Art and Design, will lead a panel of women artists featured in the book, including Nancy Bowen (AWAW 2017), Jennifer Wen Ma (2019), and Saya Woolfalk (2023), followed by a signing. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 pm.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Jun 18
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | A Musical Journey Across Cultures
Blending memoir and musical history, From the Bronx to the Bosphorus uncovers the vibrant, multicultural music scene of post-WWII New York. Feldman traces his journey from the East European klezmorim of the Bronx to the Armenian and Greek nightclubs of Manhattan, and ultimately to the klezmer revival of the late 1970s. Along the way, he encounters musicians from a range of traditions--including an Armenian virtuoso who once played for Stalin and the Shah of Iran--and studies with Dave Tarras, the greatest klezmer clarinetist of his generation. Rich with personal stories and cultural insight, this book is a celebration of music's power to connect communities across time and place.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Jun 18
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Signing | Award-Winning Author S.A. Cosby Discusses & Signs His New Book, King of Ashes
S.A. Cosby discusses and signes his new book, King of Ashes, with Alex Segura. With this book, award-winning, New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby returns with King of Ashes, a Godfather-inspired Southern crime epic and dazzling family drama. S. A. Cosby is a New York Times bestselling writer from southeastern Virginia. He is the author of All the Sinners Bleed, which was on more than forty Best of the Year lists, including Barack Obama’s, as well as Edgar Award finalist Razorblade Tears and Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner Blacktop Wasteland. He has also won the Anthony Award, ITW Thriller Award, Barry Award, Macavity Award, BCALA Award, and Audie Award and has been longlisted for the ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. A purchase of King of Ashes from the bookstore is required to join the signing line at this event. Please call ahead and speak to a bookseller and reserve your copy.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Jun 18
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Signing | Author Discusses & Signs Her New Book on Y2K Pop Stardom
Nora Princiotti discusses and signs her new book, Hit Girls, with Rob Sheffield. This book is an entertaining and deeply nostalgic dive into how female pop stars broke through the music industry in the 2000s and altered the cultural landscape forever, from the Ringer writer and Every Single Album podcast cohost herself. Nora Princiotti is an author and a staff writer at The Ringer, where she covers culture, from Taylor Swift to the National Football League. Princiotti also hosts the pop music podcast Every Single Album. She was previously a reporter for The Boston Globe covering the New England Patriots dynasty. A purchase of Hit Girls from the bookstore is required to join the signing line at this event. Please call ahead and speak to a bookseller and reserve your copy.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Thu, Jun 19
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Author Jason Weiss Reads from His New Book, along to Improv Music
Jason Weiss will read from his new book, short texts of literary nonfiction from the book "Other Lives Our Own," on experiences of foreignness in ways large and small, alternating with the GPS trio (Guillermo Gregorio, clarinet; Jeff Pearring, alto saxophone; Charley Sabatino, double bass) playing improvised music and their own compositions.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Sun, Jun 22
2:00 pm
Free
2:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Acclaimed Author & Professor Speaks on New Book: A Calculated Restraint (In Person AND Online!)
Author of A Calculated Restraint: What Allied Leaders Said About the Holocaust, Richard Breitman will be in conversation about the book with Rick Salomon, a co-founder of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Senior Fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Renew Democracy Initiative. The Allied leaders rarely spoke directly about the Holocaust in public. When Churchill and Stalin alluded to Nazi mass murder of civilians in early speeches, they said much less than they knew. Not until December 1942 did Allied governments issue a joint statement about Nazi Germany's policy of exterminating the Jews of Europe. Roosevelt deferred his own public statement until March 1944. Why didn't these leaders speak up sooner? Through close readings of public and private statements, Breitman pieces together the competing motivations that drove each leader's response to the atrocities. Timely and incisive, A Calculated Restraint sheds new light on the relationship between World War II and the Holocaust. Ultimately, the Allied leaders' responses cannot be reduced to a matter of character. What they said--and chose not to say--about the Holocaust must be understood in light of the political and military exigencies that drove their decision-making.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Sun, Jun 22
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Biology Expert Discusses His New Book on the Secret Sex Lives of Animals
Evolutionary biologist Nathan H. Lents joins us to discuss his latest book, The Sexual Evolution, about the secret sex lives (and sexual diversity) of animals with science writer and author of Been There, Done That: A Rousing History of Sex, Rachel Feltman. In The Sexual Evolution, Lents’s storytelling is as fascinating as it is topical, offering eye-opening stories about the diversity of animal life, while relating it to our own sexual journey as a species. . Nature, it turns out, has made a lot of space for diverse genders and sexual behaviors. And why? Because when it comes to evolution—diversity wins. This is not just a political or social message, instead it’s rooted in science and cultivated from understanding the full breadth of sexuality that exists throughout the world. At once a forceful rebuttal to bigotry and a captivating dive into the secret sex lives of animals, The Sexual Evolution is the rare book of pop science that leans into the controversy. Nathan H. Lents is a professor of biology at John Jay College, CUNY, and the author of Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals and Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes. He has appeared as a scientific expert in a range of national media, including The TODAY Show, NPR, Access Hollywood, 48 Hours, and Al Jazeera America.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Mon, Jun 23
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Signing | Bestselling Author Discusses & Signs Her New Book with Live Podcast Taping
Catherine Newman discusses and signa her new book, Sandwich, at a live Poured Over podcast taping. Catherine Newman is the New York Times bestselling author of the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, the middle-grade novel One Mixed-Up Night, the kids' craft book Stitch Camp, the best-selling how-to books for kids How to Be a Person and What Can I Say?, and the novels We All Want Impossible Things, Sandwich, and Wreck (forthcoming from HarperCollins). Her books have been translated into a dozen languages. She has been a regular contributor to the New York Times, Real Simple, and many other publications. She writes Crone Sandwich on Substack. A purchase of Sandwich from the bookstore is required to join the signing line at this event. Please call ahead and speak to a bookseller and reserve your copy.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Mon, Jun 23
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Photographer Celebrates New Book about LGBTQ+ Fire Island History
A tribute to the genius and magic of the annual Fire Island Invasion, a rebellious gathering of thousands of queer people and drag queens. Anderson Zaca's photographs capture the magic of the annual Fire Island Invasion, which has brought queer people and drag queens to the Pines since the 70s in the spirit of rebellion and celebration. He will be in conversation with Thom (Panzi) Hansen, leader of the original 1976 invasion, followed by a signing. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 pm.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Jun 25
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Celebrate two Acclaimed Voices in Contemporary Poetry: Elaine Sexton and Joan Larkin
Sexton, author of Site Specific: New & Selected and librettist for the chamber opera The Post Office, brings a distinct interdisciplinary perspective to her writing. A former editor at ARTnews, her work bridges poetry and visual art. Larkin, whose latest collection Old Stranger was published by Alice James Books in 2024, is a celebrated poet and editor whose accolades include the Shelley Memorial Award and fellowships from the NEA and the Academy of American Poets. Her work has long championed LGBTQ+ voices.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Thu, Jun 26
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | MacArthur Fellow Discusses His Memoir about Blindness & Disability
Scientist Joshua Miele shares insights about life and disability from his extraordinary memoir, Connecting Dots: A Blind Life, with fellow writer and professor Andrew Leland. At the age of four, Joshua Miele was blinded and badly burned when a neighbor poured sulfuric acid over his head. It could have ended his life, but instead, Miele—naturally curious, and a born problem solver—not only recovered, but thrived. Throughout his life, Miele has found increasingly inventive ways to succeed in a world built for the sighted, and to help others to do the same. At first reluctant to even think of himself as blind, he eventually embraced his blindness and became a committed advocate for disability and accessibility. Along the way, he grappled with drugs and addiction, played bass in a rock band, worked for NASA, became a guerilla activist, and married the love of his life and had two children. He chronicles the evolution of a number of revolutionary accessible technologies and his role in shaping them, including screen readers, tactile maps, and audio description. Connecting Dots delivers a captivating first-person perspective on blindness and disability as incisive as it is entertaining, and ultimately triumphant. Joshua Miele's story is one of one ordinary blind life with an indelible impact. Dr. Joshua A. Miele is a prominent blind scientist, designer, and thought leader in accessible technology and disability. He is a recipient of the 2021 MacArthur “genius” fellowship, an Amazon Design Scholar, and Distinguished Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute. He is known for creating inclusive technologies that address critical needs and challenge societal assumptions, and for speaking with frank humor and directness about the lived disability experience.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Thu, Jun 26
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Poetry & Music Festival Hosted by NYC Poetry Slam Champion
La Casita is a citywide festival celebrating poetry and music, grounded in the principle that New York City is best represented through the artistic traditions of its most underserved communities. This year's forward-looking theme is "World of Tomorrow." Hosted by seven-time NYC Poetry Slam champion Felicia Cade, the event will include readings from the Guatemalan-Colombian poet Melissa Lozada-Oliva; Indigenous Dine, transdisciplinary, two-spirit poet Demian DineYazhi; Afro-Latina author Yesenia Montilla; and Bronx-born powerhouse voice Jesica "Sumbodies Mama" Blandon. La Casita also features musical performances from the all-female Colombian music ensemble La Manga and the pan-Latin and Hip-Hop-inspired Cvgebird. This event is General Admission, first-come first-served. Just show up!
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Fri, Jun 27
5:30 pm
Free
5:30 pm
Free
Author Reading | Acclaimed Translator Discusses His New Book
Acclaimed translator Jeremy Tiang discusses his debut novel, winner of the Singapore Literature Prize, State of Emergency. Novel synopsis: Siew Li leaves her husband and children to fight for freedom in the jungles of Malaya. Decades later, a Malaysian journalist returns to her homeland to uncover the truth of a massacre committed during the Emergency, while Siew Li's son uncovers the truth of his family's past. Jeremy Tiang's debut novel State of Emergency follows an extended family from the 1940s to the present day as they navigate the choppy political currents of the region. Jeremy Tiang is a novelist and playwright, and the translator of over thirty books from Chinese. He was awarded the Singapore Literature Prize for his novel State of Emergency and for his translation of Zhang Yueran's Cocoon, and he recently won an Obie Award for his play Salesman之死.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Fri, Jun 27
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Hear Poetry from Award-Winning Writers
Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets throughout the summer.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jul 1
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Author Discussion on Book about Immigration Detention in USA
This event is a conversation to celebrate the release of Immigration Detention Inc with the authors Nancy Hiemstra and Deirdre Conlon. The United States has the most extensive immigration detention system in the world, expanding from a capacity of less than 5,000 detainees per day in the 1980s to 52,000 by 2019. Nancy Hiemstra and Deirdre Conlon provide a damning exposé of the ways immigration detention generates income while those detained are starved, sickened, and exploited as a matter of routine detention operation. Drawing on over a decade of research and focusing on detention centers in New Jersey and New York, the authors map public-private financial relationships and trace how detention contracts for food, medical care, and in-facility stores are fought over to the penny. By dissecting the inner workings of immigration detention, they show a system governed by a capitalist logic that produces sickening and corrupting dependencies in communities across the US. Coming at a pivotal social and political moment, Immigration Detention Inc. makes the case for dismantling immigration detention regimes everywhere.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jul 1
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Hear Poetry from Award-Winning Writers
Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets throughout the summer.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jul 8
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Signing | Pulitzer-Winning Reporter Discusses & Signs His New Book, How We Grow Up
Matt Richtel discusses and signs How We Grow Up, with Jim Steyer. Greatly expanding his award-winning New York Times series on the contemporary teen mental-health crisis, Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter Matt Richtel delivers a groundbreaking investigation into adolescence, the pivotal life stage undergoing profound--and often confounding--transformation. Matt Richtel is a reporter at the New York Times. He received the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for a series of articles about distracted driving that he expanded into his first nonfiction book, A Deadly Wandering, a New York Times bestseller. His second nonfiction book, An Elegant Defense, on the human immune system, was a national bestseller and chosen by Bill Gates for his annual Summer Reading List. His 2022 New York Times series on teen mental health, "The Inner Pandemic," won first place in public health reporting from the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism and drew national media attention.Richtel has appeared on NPR's Fresh Air, CBS This Morning, PBS NewsHour, and other major media outlets. A purchase of How We Grow Up from this bookstore is required to join the signing line at this event. Please call ahead and speak to a bookseller and reserve your copy.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jul 8
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Life Must Go On: A Holocaust Survivor’s Story of Hope and Resilience (Online!)
Discover the extraordinary life of Sol Lurie, a child survivor of six concentration camps, in Life Must Go On—a powerful testament to human strength, faith, and forgiveness. Author Bea Lurie shares Sol’s journey from the Kovno Ghetto to liberation at Buchenwald on his 15th birthday. Through Sol’s eyes, we gain insight into a lesser-known chapter of Holocaust history in Eastern Europe and the courage of those who helped him survive. Bea Lurie will discuss the book in conversation with Dr. Steven Leonard Jacobs.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Jul 9
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Nonfiction Authors Discuss Southeast Asian Political landscape and Culture
This event is a conversation with Benjamin Tausig, author of Bangkok after Dark: Maurice Rocco, Transnational Nightlife, and the Making of Cold War Intimacies, and Rianne Subijanto, author of Communication against Capital: Red Enlightenment at the Dawn of Indonesia. About Bangkok after Dark: From the 1930s to the 1950s, jazz pianist Maurice Rocco was a mainstay in Hollywood and American nightlife scenes. As rock and roll surpassed jazz as America’s most popular music in the 1950s, the queer Black pianist’s fortunes faded and he was forced to go abroad for new opportunities. In 1964 Rocco settled in Bangkok, where he thrived and enjoyed a relatively privileged life until he was murdered by two young male sex workers in 1976. In Bangkok after Dark, Benjamin Tausig uses Rocco’s intriguing story to trace the history of transnational nightlife encounters between Thais and Americans during the long American war in Vietnam. Tausig shows how these encounters, which included musical collaborations, romantic and sexual relationships, and new labor, identity, and geopolitical configurations, remade Thailand in crucial and enduring ways. Tausig challenges conventional understandings of the global Cold War on individual and transnational scales. About Communication against Capital: Communication against Capital explores the revolutionary communication strategies of the pergerakan merah, the anticolonial "red movement" in 1920s Indonesia. Rianne Subijanto tells the story of ordinary lower-class women and children and people of diverse races and ethnicities who waged their battles against Dutch colonialism within multiple arenas of communication, including political associations, assemblies, printed matter, schools, and shipping lines. In this process, communist ideas merged with ideals drawn from the Enlightenment to shape the emancipatory spirit of Indonesians.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Jul 9
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Signing | Author Discusses & Signs Her Book on Lorne Michaels and Saturday Night Live
Susan Morrison discusses and signs Lorne, with Roz Chast. Drawn from hundreds of interviews--with Michaels, his friends, and SNL's iconic stars and writers, from Will Ferrell to Tina Fey to John Mulaney to Chris Rock to Dan Aykroyd--Lorne is a deeply reported, wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life and have a profound impact on American culture. Susan Morrison is the articles editor of The New Yorker. She is the former editor in chief of the New York Observer and an original editor of SPY magazine. A purchase of Lorne from this bookstore is required to join the signing line at this event. Please call ahead and speak to a bookseller and reserve your copy.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Thu, Jul 10
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Poetry Open Mic: Share Your Work or Listen to Emerging Writers
Participants can share their original work for up to five minutes. Space is limited to 15 readers; show up on time to get a slot!
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Fri, Jul 11
5:30 pm
Free
5:30 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Poetry Festival!
Hundreds of poets. Two full days of readings, performances, open mics, workshops, installations, and literary fun for all ages. Lounge in the grass, explore the book fair, grab a drink in the beer garden, and hear work from 2025 headliners Naomi Shihab Nye, Eileen Myles, Sam Sax, Anne Waldman, and Andrew Whiteman.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Sat, Jul 12
11:00 am
Free
11:00 am
Free
Poetry Reading | Poetry Festival Returns to This Small Island
Hundreds of poets. Two full days of readings, performances, open mics, workshops, installations, and literary fun for all ages. Lounge in the grass, explore the book fair, grab a drink in the beer garden, and hear work from 2025 headliners Naomi Shihab Nye, Eileen Myles, Sam Sax, Anne Waldman, and Andrew Whiteman.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Sun, Jul 13
11:00 am
Free
11:00 am
Free
Poetry Reading | Hear Poetry from Award-Winning Writers
Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets throughout the summer.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jul 15
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Signing | Bestselling Food Author Discusses & Signs His New Book, Cheesecake
Mark Kurlansky discusses and signs his new book, Cheesecake. This book is a delectable novel following one Manhattan block as an ancient cheesecake recipe-and a conniving landlord-change the Upper West Side forever. Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling author of nonfiction, including Cod, Salt, The Big Oyster, Milk!, The Core of an Onion, and fiction, including Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue, Edible Stories, City Beasts, and The White Man in the Tree. He has received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Bon Appetit's Food Writer of the Year Award, the James Beard Award, and the Glenfiddich Award. He is a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times and frequently contributes to the New York Times and the London Guardian. A purchase of Cheesecake from this bookstore is required to join the signing line at this event. Please call ahead and speak to a bookseller and reserve your copy.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jul 15
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Poetry & Music in the Park
Enjoy a summer evening in the park with music and poetry. This program features two poets and a musician to explore and highlight the connections between poetry and music. Line-Up: Peter Gizzi, Ariana Reines, and Felukah
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Fri, Jul 18
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Author Reading | Author Discusses Her New Feminist Book on Witches in Horror Films
This event is a chat with author and film critic Payton McCarty-Simas to celebrate the release of their second book, That Very Witch: Fear, Feminism, and the American Witch Film! In the book, Payton tackles over seventy years of American film history and politics, exploring the relationship between representations of witches in horror film and American feminist movements. Touching on everything from Second Wave feminism to the Satanic Panic, from the #MeToo Movement to QAnon and beyond, Payton will discuss the political interplay between feminist activism and American genre film culture, unpacking movies big and small along the way. Payton McCarty-Simas is an author, programmer, and film critic based in New York City. They hold a Masters in film and media studies from Columbia University, where she focused her research on horror film, psychedelia, and the occult in particular. Payton’s writing has been featured in The Brooklyn Rail, Little White Lies, Rue Morgue, Film Daze, and others, and she is the author of two books, One Step Short of Crazy: National Treasure and the Landscape of American Conspiracy Culture, and All of Them Witches: Fear, Feminism, and the American Witch Film.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Sun, Jul 20
2:00 pm
Free
2:00 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Hear Poetry from Award-Winning Writers
Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets throughout the summer.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jul 22
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Poetry & Music in the Park
Enjoy a summer evening in the park with music and poetry. This program features two poets and a musician to explore and highlight the connections between poetry and music. Line-Up: LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Tongo Eisen-Martin, and Sofia Wolfson
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Fri, Jul 25
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Poetry Reading | Hear Poetry from Award-Winning Writers
Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets throughout the summer.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Tue, Jul 29
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Complimentary Tickets
to shows, concerts ... (CFT Deals!)
Play | Broadway Actors in a Powerful Drama at a Major NYC Theater
Regular Price: $64CFT Member Price: $0.00
Classical Music | One of the Greatest Classical Works of All Time at a Landmark Venue
Regular Price: $45CFT Member Price: $0.00
Join the Club!
Today's Events
All 1369 Events
Events This Week
Events This Weekend
Contact FAQ Reviews About Terms of Use Privacy Policy
All events are free unless otherwise stated. All programs subject to change. Please confirm before going.Contact FAQ Reviews About Terms of Use Privacy Policy
© Copyright Club Free Time. All rights reserved.