We’ve moved !
March 11, 2008
Please find us at http://myurbansherpa.net/blog/
7:00 to 11:55 pm
Thursday, March 6
In celebration of Small Press Month:
Eileen Myles (Wave Books), Lynne Tillman (Soft Skull), Brenda Coultas (Coffee House Press), Ted Mathys (Coffee House Press), Martine Bellen (Belladonna Books), Lila Zemborain (Belladonna Books), Sharon Mesmer (Hanging Loose Press), Marie Carter (Hanging Loose Press), Tisa Bryant (Leon Works), Bob Holeman (Bowery Books), Rachel Levitsky (Futurepoem Books), Erica Kaufman (Big Game Books) and many others!
The Segue Reading Series
4 pm
Saturday, March 8
Martine Bellen
&
Brenda Iijima
308 Bowery @ Bleecker, right across from CBGB’s
F train to Second Ave | 6 train to Bleecker | 212-614-0505
Martine Bellen is a poet (www.martinebellen.com), editor (www.bookdoctorbellen.com), a native New Yorker and the editor of Poets, Readers and Writers for My Urban Sherpa.
Ray Charles White at Senior & Shopmaker Gallery
February 21, 2008
Photographers, printmakers and other art lovers will be happy to stumble upon a beautiful show of Ray Charles White new works at the Senior & Shopmaker Gallery in Madison Square Park.
To see the show – go to 21 East 26th Street before March 29th, 2008.
Bowl of Soup.
February 6, 2008
It should be crisp and clear but this English weather that has one eager for a scotch at day’s end. And in between – that warm scotch and a warm home – a bowl of soup.
When I was little, and I fell ill, my grandmother would come running from Queens with her homemade chicken soup. I’ve never had one better – and I don’t have any at all now because even though I do think there is something restorative about that Jewish chicken soup, I’m not willing to sacrifice a chicken to make it. But I am looking for a well-made, home-made, bowl of soup.
And here is where I recommend finding yours:
Katz Delicatessen for traditional Jewish soups
205 E Houston Street at Ludlow
Morimoto for miso andnoodle soups
88 10th Avenue, 15th & 16th Streets
KAI for miso soup and excellent sushi
822 Madison Ave, 68th & 69th Streets
Centolire for seasonal vegetarian soups.
1167 Madison Avenue at 85th Street
Where to vote in New York City
February 4, 2008
Here is the link to the NYC Board of Elections Poll site locator.
Writers, Poets and Attendees of the 2008 AWP Conference.
January 24, 2008
Welcome writers attending the 2008 AWP Conference! Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald spent their honeymoon in 1920 at the Biltmore Hotel at Madison Avenue and 43rd Street, only a few blocks from the convention hotels. Click on POETS in the society section of myurbansherpa.net and check out other NYC literary getaways.
I live in an East Village tenement apartment overlooking Marble Cemetery (http://www.nycmc.org/). I know five other poets who share this unusually peaceful panorama of linden and mulberry trees. Uriah R. Scribner, father of Charles of publishing fame, is resting here. No doubt, numerous writers live on these two cemetery-facing blocks, since as a tribe and profession we permeate New York City. We are the dead and the living, always have been. And subsequently, New York is an ideal place either to start your literary journey or, if you’re a card-carrying member in another part of the country or world, to join our vibrant festivities!
There are some obvious, and some not so obvious, ways to enjoy the historical New York literati experience:
Bar hopping
Apartment-building pilgrimages
Visiting cemeteries
Attending events, readings, panel discussions, and book parties
Browsing bookstores and special library collections
Of course, NYC contains copious out-of-the-ordinary locales with singular stories attached to them. That’s why each month we’re inviting a New York City poet or novelist to determine the place that for them poetry (or prose) in society or poetry in solitude springs eternal.
Bars
The White Horse Tavern (567 Hudson Street between Perry and West 11th Streets)
With Dylan Thomas’ (who died at St Vincent’s Hospital–7th Avenue and 12th Street–where Edna St. Vincent Millay was born) portraits plastered on the walls, no one will ever forget that The White Horse was his waterhole. Other frequenters were Norman Mailer, Thomas Wolfe, Bob Dylan, and Jim Morrison.
The Round Table at the Algonquin Hotel
59 West 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, (212) 840-6800
Apartment-Building Pilgrimages
The home of Willa Cather, where she wrote My Antonia–5 Bank Street
The home of e.e. cummings–4 Patchin Place.
T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Allen Tate, and Dylan Thomas visited.
Djuna Barnes lived at 5 Patchin Place.
Theodore Dreiser wrote An American Tragedy when he lived at 118 W. 11th Street
Allen Ginsberg wrote his famous poem “Kaddish” when he lived at 170 E. 2nd Street.
The home of Jack Kerouac where he wrote the first draft of On the Road—149 W. 21st Street.
The home of William S. Burroughs—115th Street and Morningside Drive Apartments. In the summer of 1944 Burroughs, Kerouac, and Ginsberg at this location declared the birth of the Beats.
Trinity CemeteryUpper Riverside Drive, (212) 368-1600
Ferncliff CemeterySecor Road, Hartsdale (in Westchester), (914) 693-4700
Buried here: James Baldwin, Preston Sturges, Lionel Trilling, John Lennon, Malcolm XWoodlawn CemeteryWebster Avenue & E. 233rd Street, Bronx, (718) 920-0500Buried here: Herman Melville and Countee Collen
Readings / Bookstores
Events, Readings, Panel Discussions, and Book Parties (A note about attending readings and events in NYC: Arrive on time because, depending on the event, it might get crowded, but most reading start 20-30 minutes late.)
92nd Street and Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5760
52 Prince Street (between Lafayette and Mulberry), (212) 274-1160
This is a lively bookstore in SoHo with lots of varied and interesting events and readings. Both headliners and indies are booked here. There’s a café, too. And of course you can get your books signed by the authors. Sometimes there are even one-day writing workshops you can attend.
28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor, (212) 481-0295
Barnes & Noble
Union Square–33 East 17th Street, (212) 253-0810
Chelsea–675 6th Avenue—(212) 727-1227
There are lots of great readings in the numerous B&Ns around NYC. The stores at Union Square and Chelsea host particularly good ones. Don’t expect to hear poetry at the chains though. You’ll hear fiction and nonfiction by well-known authors.
St. Mark’s Poetry Project at St. Marks Church
131 E. 10th St., (212) 674-0910
Now over 40 years old, the St. Mark’s Poetry Project has developed an esteemed and notorious reputation for happening poetry. There are open readings (ones in which everyone is invited to read), readings every Monday and Wednesday night, as well as a late Friday-night reading series. And the Poetry Project is housed in a spectacular 18th century church.
308 Bowery, across from the old CBGB’s, (212) 614-0505
There is everything in this club: booze, café lattes, music, poetry, book parties, slam performance. And there’s lots of everything. Check out the very full schedule.
Good poetry and fiction are read almost every night of the week here. There is no admission fee. This is not a reading series that’s held in a noisy bar but a really crowded bar full of folks who have come specifically for a really good reading.
417 Barnard Hall, 3009 Broadway, (212) 854-2116
This series, offered by Barnard College exclusively focusing on women poets, is a real treat. The setting is intimate and dignified, the poets tend to be brilliant, and there is always a very fancy spread (not just wine and cheese). There’s no admission fee and poets will gladly sign your books.
15 Gramercy Park South, (212) 475-3424
Housed in an historic Gramercy Park mansion, the National Arts Club offers a taste of 19th century New York City. It’s a private club so take advantage of the book signings that are open to non-members.
66 West 12th Street, (212) 229-5488
An impressive array of events are held here. You’ll find readings by children’s authors as well as fiction forums and panel discussions on the state of small press publishing.Poets HouseI must mention this vibrant literary center and poetry archive even though it’s presently in the process of moving to the Battery Park area. Keep your eyes on its website for the grand opening.
12th Street and Broadway, (212) 473-1452
Besides miles of books, new and used, the 12th Street store holds readings and events. You might want to spend a full day at the Strand. This remarkable bookstore also has a rare bookroom that you’ll definitely want to visit if you’re interested in first editions.
192 Tenth Avenue, (212) 225-4022
This is a teeny bookstore so make reservations for readings!
126 Crosby Street, (212) 334-3324
Bookstores
Book Culture—formerly called Labyrinth Bookstore
536 West 112th Street, (212)865-1588
Book Culture has an excellent poetry collection to browse when you’re near Columbia University.
31 Third Avenue, (212) 260-7853
Barnes & NobleUnion Square–33 East 17th Street, (212) 253-0810
This particular store has an excellent (for B&N) poetry section. You’ll find books at this location that other B&Ns won’t carry.
52 Prince Street (between Lafayette and Mulberry), (212) 274-1160
This is a lively, airy bookstore in SoHo with lots of varied and interesting events and readings. There’s a café, too. This is the perfect bookstore to browse.
192 Books192 Tenth Avenue, (212) 225-4022
Although this is a teeny bookstore it carries just the books you’ll want to read.
126 Crosby Street, (212) 334-3324
Special Collections
New York Public Library – Humanities and Social Science Library
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, (212) 930-0830
The Berg Collection”A selected list of American authors represented by choice and/or extensive manuscript holdings include Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne and his family, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Twain, James Russell Lowell, Henry James, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot (including the typescript/manuscript of “The Waste Land,” with Pound’s emendations), Marianne Moore, Louis Zukofsky, Allen Ginsberg, Saul Bellow, Julia Alvarez, Clark Coolidge, and Aï. Also present are the archives of Vladimir Nabokov, Jack Kerouac, May Sarton, Laura Riding Jackson, Alfred Kazin, Kenneth Koch, and Paul Auster.” Enough for you?
American Academy of Arts and Letters
633 West 155 Street 212-368-5900
Martine Bellen is a poet (www.martinebellen.com), editor (www.bookdoctorbellen.com), a native New Yorker and the editor of Poets, Readers and Writers for My Urban Sherpa.