The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30pm and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication, with the date in the subject line.
MONDAY, JUNE 25: Join us for a rare treat as Jean Thompson, praised by ELLE for her “stirring prose and masterfully funny repartee,” gives her first reading in New York since 1999 (when she was nominated for the National Book Award for her last collection) from her widely acclaimed new collection of short stories, THROW LIKE A GIRL. At Barnes & Noble, Astor Place. 7PM, FREE [full disclosure, as always: Jean is one of my PR clients].
TUESDAY, JUNE 26: I like to dance around my apartment to this song, so that’s what I’ll probably do on Tuesday night. There’s also the “Emo-Thug 2 Release Party.” I have no idea what that means but it sounds great. So does this reading series, Other Means.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27: In a rare appearance (her first time in New York since 1999, when she was nominated for the National Book Award for her last collection) Jean Thompson reads from her widely praised new collection of short stories, THROW LIKE A GIRL at the season finale of Amanda Stern’s wildly popular Happy Ending reading series, along with Alison Bechdel and Eliza Griswold, with music from One Ring Zero. Doors open at 7, show at 8 sharp, FREE.
THURSDAY, JUNE 28: If Tuesday night’s dance party wasn’t enough creative expression for you, you can always make an experimental film (or unearth one): “SPLICE recently celebrated its first anniversary of bringing eclectic and underground sounds and performers from around the world to New York audiences. If you are a VJ, video/multimedia artist, or experimental filmmaker, we invite you to submit your contact details and information about your work. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: Multimedia artists who create both sound/music and video; Video artists interested in projecting their work, by itself or in collaboration with musicians; VJs who can generate live and remixed video during DJ sets and musical performances; Filmmakers with experimental (preferably short-form) works.”
FRIDAY, JUNE 29: “The launch of a new online journal, Essays & Fictions is to be celebrated at a reading open to the public at La Plaza Cultural Community Garden in the East Village, 9th St and Ave C – Friday June 29 6 p.m., with a rain date of Sunday, July 1st. Danielle Winterton, David Pollock, Adam Golaski, Jeff Paris and others will read from the premier issue.” Recommended.
SATURDAY, JUNE 30: At the pacesetting downtown gallery jen bekman [full disclosure, as always: where I used to be the PR director, but now we are ‘just friends’], A New American Portrait, a group exhibition of photographs featuring artists at the vanguard of contemporary portraiture in America, is shaping up to be the most talked about show of the season judging from the opening night photos.
SUNDAY, JULY 1: How intriguing— is “Broken English” the story of your life?