April 20th – Graphic Storytelling: From Cuneiform Tablets to New York’s New Pedestrian Maps
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Ave.
212-535-7710
Time: 6-7pm
In this conversation, MMA curator Kim Benzel takes us back to the dawn of writing in the Near East and graphic designer Michael Bierut brings us up to the moment as we look at how words and images work together to tell stories in ancient and contemporary design.
SPARK with Julie Burstein:
This fast-paced cabaret-style series explores vital cultural issues through the lens of the Met. Each program gathers artists and thought leaders to engage in unscripted, surprising and engaging conversation.
Tickets to this event cost $30; click here for more info.
April 20th – Their Voices Go On: Five Centuries of American Women Poets
The New York Society Library
53 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075
Time: 6:30-8:00pm
April is National Poetry Month. This original play by Marya Smith and Sarah Smith dramatizes the voices of women poets throughout America’s history, from Anne Bradstreet and Phyllis Wheatley to Sandra Cisneros and Natasha Tretheway. Click Here for more information.
Open to the public. $20 with advance registration; $25 at the door.
April 23rd – Mary Morris: The Jazz Palace
The Center for Fiction
17 E. 47th Street
New York, New York 10017
Time: 7pm
Join us for an evening with acclaimed author Mary Morris, who will be discussing her new book, The Jazz Palace.
In July of 1915 a fifteen-year old boy pauses on the Clark Street Bridge in downtown Chicago and witnesses the worst river accident ever to occur in American history. With the sinking of the Eastland and the death of eight hundred of its passengers the lives and stories of three people are set in motion. The boy, Benny Lehrman will become a jazz pianist but will always live with his memory of disaster. The young girl, Pearl Chimbrova, with whom he will chat briefly on the bridge that day, will never quite forget him and a black trumpeter named Napoleon Hill who has been invited by Pearl’s older brother to play in the saloon that her family runs will befriend him.
As their lives intertwine, the novels also tells the story of the city in which they live. It is a world of gangsters, musicians and clubs emerge in which black musicians are no freer than they were before the Civil War, white youths come down to the South Side of Chicago to “slum,” and Al Capone and Louis Armstrong become legends. At the heart of the novel is the friendship that emerges between Benny and his mentor, Napoleon, a friendship in which while they will never be able to play together professionally because of their race. But they will jam together in Pearl’s family salon which Napoleon has dubbed The Jazz Palace.
As novel steams through the 1920’s and ends with the repeal of Prohibition, Benny, Pearl and Napoleon forge a bond that is as memorable as it is lasting.
April 23rd – BYOB Book Drive
Bookstore Cafe
126 Crosby Street
New York, NY 10012
Time: 3-5pm
In honor of World Book Night 2015, Book Riot and the HPA invite you to support literacy, clear out your bookshelves, and meet fellow booknerds on April 23. Bring a book (or a whole bunch) to donate, swap favorites and stories with fellow participants, and help Accio Books reach this year’s goal of 60,000 books collected. All ages welcome! Click here to RSVP on Facebook.
This event is free; bring your unwanted books!