Sometimes reading is a sublime solitary activity. It can be so calming: just you, the author, and the world they’ve created.
And then there are the other times: when you’ve read something so moving or awe-inspiring that you desperately need other people to bear witness. You need to discuss it! You need your friends to know what you know, to go where you’ve been! You push books into their hands; you plead with them. But there’s an easier way to find literary community . . .
→ UPCOMING LITERARY EVENTS
Forgotten Lands Pop-Up Event
Saturday, September 7, 3–6 pm
Forgotten Lands is a Caribbean artist collective based in Brooklyn. Join us later today for the launch of their publication, Forgotten Lands, Volume 06! This also kicks off the Brooklyn Museum Shop’s month-long pop-up with Forgotten Lands, so stay tuned for books, prints, merch, and more.
Brooklyn Talks: What If We Get It Right? with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Tuesday, September 17, 7–9 pm
Celebrate the release of Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s book What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures with friends and contributors from across the fields of culture and science.
A captivating new anthology on possible climate futures, What If We Get It Right? sugarcoats nothing while imagining the myriad opportunities we still have to get things right.
Brooklyn Reads: A Woman Is a School with Céline Semaan
Thursday, September 26, 7–9 pm
Ring in the launch of Céline Semaan’s memoir A Woman Is a School with the author! Semaan is the founder of Slow Factory, an organization dedicated to addressing intersecting crises of climate justice and social inequity through education, narrative change, and regenerative design.
The program begins with a performance by the zaffe band Mabrook Entertainment, followed by a conversation with the author.
Brooklyn Reads: Chronicles of DOOM
Thursday, October 31, 7–9 pm
Honor the legacy of reclusive and revered hip-hop artist MF Doom during the release of his definitive biography, The Chronicles of DOOM: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast. Journalist S.H. Fernando Jr. (also known as SKIZ) follows the life of Daniel Dumile Jr. from his upbringing in Long Beach, New York, to his and his brother’s hip-hop group KMD, to his first masked show.
This program features a set by DJ Rob Swift and a conversation moderated by Hanif Abdurraqib.
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11238
From the top: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Limoges, France, 1841–1919, Cagnes–sur–Mer, France). The Vineyards at Cagnes (Les Vignes à Cagnes), 1908. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Colonel and Mrs. Edgar W. Garbisch, 51.219. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Image courtesy of Forgotten Lands; Cover, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, What If We Get It Right? (2024). (Photo: courtesy of Penguin Random House); Céline Semaan, 2024. (Photo: Dean Majd; courtesy of the author and Slow Factory); Cover of The Chronicles of DOOM featuring art by LAmour Supreme. (Photo: Courtesy of Astra House); Eugene Wemlinger. Entrance to Dreamland, Coney Island, 1908. Cellulose nitrate negative. Brooklyn Museum; Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, 1996.164.10-26. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). The Doge’s Palace (Le Palais ducal), 1908. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum; Gift of A. Augustus Healy, 20.634. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Egyptian green frit (34.6048b). (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Milja Laurila (born Helsinki, Finland, 1982). Observatory, from the series In Their Own Voice, 2015. Pigmented inkjet prints on acrylic. © Milja Laurila. (Photo: Courtesy of the artist)
