Crafting the City: Presented by LIVE from NYPL and the National Book Foundation

National Book Award–honored authors Rumaan Alam (Leave the World Behind, 2020 Fiction Finalist), Threa Almontaser (The Wild Fox of Yemen, 2021 Poetry Longlist), and Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven, 2014 Fiction Finalist) discuss writing and reading inspired by New York City, and beyond. Moderated by Idra Novey, novelist, poet, and translator.


This outdoor event takes place in the Bryant Park Reading Room, located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues (behind the Library), near 42nd St by the yellow umbrellas. Rain venue to be announced day-of.

A map of the park can be found here.  There are accessible park entrances midblock on 40th and 42nd Streets, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. To get this information via phone, please call Bryant Park at: 212-768-4242.

Presented in partnership with the National Book Foundation and the Bryant Park Reading Room. This event is part of the Festival of New York.

To join this event in-person | Please be sure to register for an In-Person Ticket. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time.

To join the livestream | A livestream of this event will be available on the NYPL event page. To receive an email reminder shortly in advance of the event, please be sure to register!

COVID PROTOCOLS FOR IN-PERSON LIVE FROM NYPL PROGRAMS

The New York Public Library no longer mandates proof of vaccination at indoor public programs.

Patrons are strongly encouraged to wear a mask at LIVE from NYPL events.

If you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or suspect you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, please stay home.

ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person | You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

Livestream | You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Rumaan Alam is the author of the novels Rich and Pretty, That Kind of Mother, and Leave the World Behind, a National Book Award Finalist. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, New York Review of Books, Bookforum, and The New Republic. He studied writing at Oberlin College and lives in New York with his family.

Threa Almontaser is the author of the debut poetry collection The Wild Fox of Yemen, winner of the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American poets, the Maya Angelou Book Award, and the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize—and nominated for the National Book Award, the NAACP, and the PEN/Voelcker Award. She is a recipient of writing fellowships from Duke University and the Fulbright Program. She earned her MFA from North Carolina State University and currently teaches English to immigrants and refugees in her area.

Emily St. John Mandel is the author of six novels, most recently Sea of Tranquility. Her previous novels include The Glass Hotel, which was selected by President Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2020, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and has been translated into 23 languages, and Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, won the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award, has been translated into 36 languages, and aired as a limited series on HBO Max. She lives in New York City.

Idra Novey is the author of Ways to Disappear, a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize for First Fiction and Those Who Knew, a finalist for the 2019 Clark Fiction Prize and a Best Book of the Year with NPR, Esquire, BBC, and over a dozen media outlets. Her co-translation with Ahmad Nadalizadeh of Iranian poet Garous Abdolmalekian, Lean Against This Late Hour was longlisted for the 2021 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. She teaches fiction at Princeton University and in the MFA Program at NYU. Her forthcoming novel Take What You Need will be out from Viking Books in 2023.

CONNECT

Please submit all press inquiries to Sara Beth Joren at least 48 hours before the event: email sarabethjoren@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

For all other questions and inquiries, please email publicprograms@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

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LIVE from NYPL is made possible by the continuing generosity of Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund, and the support of Library patrons and friends.

Rumaan Alam © David A. Land

Threa Almontaser © Yasmin Ali

Emily St. John Mandel © Sarah Shatz

Idra Novey © Jesse Ditmar