Join us on the SNFL terrace for readings, drinks, crafts, and more with Words Without Borders!

Featuring:

• Carmen Boullosa


• Valzhyna Mort


• Jaroslav Kalfař

LIVE from NYPL's happy hours on the terrace at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) take place on select Fridays. Drop in for drinks, mingling, and crafts, as well as a short selection of curated readings!

Join us at any point between 5:30-7:30 PM. Readings will begin at about 6:15 PM.

This April the Library hosts its third-annual World Literature Festival, which shines a spotlight on books and writers from around the world. As part of the festival, we are proud to partner with Words Without Borders, the home for international literature whose mission is to cultivate global awareness by expanding access to international writing and creating a bridge between readers, writers, and translators.

Co-presented with Words Without Borders, the premier destination for global literary conversations.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Carmen Boullosa is the author of a dozen volumes of poetry and has published nineteen novels (the most recent on translation, The Book of Eve), as well as four books of essays and ten plays (seven staged). She is a Distinguished Lecturer at Macaulay Honors College, CUNY. She was a Guggenheim Fellow, as well as a Cullman Center Fellow and DAAD Fellow. Winner of the prizes Casa de América in Madrid (poetry), Ibargüengoitia, Villarrutia and José Emilio Pacheco in Mexico, among others. The New York Public Library acquired her archive.

Jaroslav Kalfař, born in the Czech Republic, immigrated to the United States at the age of fifteen. His critically acclaimed debut, Spaceman of Bohemia, a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, has been translated into fifteen languages. A major motion picture adaptation of Spaceman of Bohemia is coming this fall. His newest novel, A Brief History of Living Forever, has been named one of the best books of the season by Esquire magazine. In 2018, Kalfař was a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship. He holds an MFA from New York University and lives in Brooklyn.

Valzhyna Mort is the author of three poetry collections, most recently: Music for the Dead and Resurrected (FSG 2020), named one of the best poetry books of 2020 by The New York Times, and the winner of the International Griffin Poetry Prize and the UNT Rilke Prize. Her earlier collections of poetry are Factory of Tears and Collected Body, both published by Copper Canyon Press. Mort is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy in Rome, the Lannan Foundation, and the Amy Clampitt Foundation. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant for her translation work on Polina Barskova’s Air Raid. Her translation, together with Hanif Abdurraqib, of Motherfield by Julia Cimafiejeva, was longlisted for the PEN Translation Prize. Born in Minsk, Belarus, Mort writes in English and Belarusian, and teaches creative writing at Cornell University.

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

Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. 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. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs. A visual navigation guide is available here.

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.

The New York Public Library's free services and resources are made possible thanks to the support of the Friends of the Library. Join this group of Library lovers and take advantage of special membership benefits, like invitations to members-only virtual events, discounts at the Library Shop, and more. Join now.

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.

This program is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).