Bryant Park Reading Room Events Resume in Earnest This Week

Bryant Park’s outdoor Reading Room is open for its 14th summer and the literary lineup is better than ever. This year we welcome back all of our signature series, including Celebrity Author, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Reel Talks, StoryTime, BookClub, Kids, Writers Workshop, HSBC Business & Finance, as well as the return of the crowd favorite Spelling Bee. We’re excited to introduce two new series, Coffee & Crosswords and Game of Thrones BookClub, and will be hosting our first Crossword Tournament in the park. Over 100 events will take place in the Reading Room this summer, and visitors are always welcome to use of our daily newspapers, magazine, and book carts.

Spelling Bee returns to the park later in the season.
Photo: Jusay Photography.

Below are some of the programs we’re looking forward to this month:

May 16: HSBC Business & Finance 
Our HSBC series has been rebranded to focus on business and the challenges many of us face in the current economy. The first topic tackles Negotiation, with Chris Voss, a former FBI Lead International Kidnapping Negotiator. Voss and co-author, Tahl Raz, will talk about their new book Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It.

May 17: Poetry
On May 17, five poets--Joel Allegretti, Michael Montlack, Martine Bellen, Steve Dalachinsky and Abiodun Oyewole--will be reading from a new anthology of poetry called Rabbit Ears: TV Poems. Rabbit Ears is the first poetry collection about television. This collection is written by over 100 poets and features 130 poems.

May 18: Author
Comedian Dave Hill is back for a second time at the Park to talk about his new book, Dave Hill Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The book is a collection of essays centered around his life after the passing of his mom.

As always, the Reading Room is open to the public daily, weather-permitting.
Photo: Jusay Photography.