Brooklyn Indie Party at Greenlight!

1. Friends of Independent Press-ers Chris, Elena, and Jenny. 2. A crew of well-dressed Pratt students (is there any other kind?): Writers Catherine Douglas, Joe Sutton, & Kathering Martina, art history major Sofia Kofodimos, painter Rebecca Warlick.

Last night’s Brooklyn Indie Party was fittingly held at the Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Green, a beacon for all things local and literary. The party featured representatives from (deep breath here): A Public Space, Akashic Books, Archipelago Books, Armchair/Shotgun, Black Balloon, BOMB Magazine, (our very own) Electric Literature, Ig Publishing, Litmus Press, Melville House, powerhouse Books, Stonecutter, Tin House, Ugly Duckling Presse, Umbrage Editions and Vulgar Marsala.

1. The dedicated spread of new, small press releases at the Greenlight Bookstore. 2. Writer Rob Keefe, who attends openings in search of good conversation and who kept me company sporadically throughout the night.

Naturally, the DJ also had indie lit cred- the delightfully loungey tunes were provided by none other than the chair of the Brooklyn Book Festival Council and publisher of Akashic Books, Johnny Temple.

1. Christian Shideler of Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (A literary agency, NOT a law firm), and Molly Lindley of Simon & Schuster, who spent the evening laughing in a corner. 2. Florence Lui of Archipelago Books, & Elizabeth Koch, Founding Editor and Publisher of Black Balloon Publishing, who were popping their proverbial Indie Party cherries along with me.

As you can imagine, when drinks and free food abound in that intimate space, the party itself was jam packed from start to finish. Despite all of the necessary “squeezing by,” everyone was in high spirits, probably because they had yet to wear themselves out with Sunday’s jam-packed schedule (which you can find here).

1. Katie Raissian, Ava Lehrer & Anna Della Subin of Stonecutter, flanked by Marty Markowitz, posing here with the newest issue. 2. Kenda Sullivan, a self-described n’er-do-well, with Joshua Ellison of Habitus and painter Dylan Gauthier, holding court in the children’s section.

Even Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and prose-master king Colson Whitehead joined the messy throng of well-dressed revelers to support the independent presses. While it seemed strange to attend an event at a bookstore without any readings, surrounded by authors and copies of brand-spanking new issues of some stellar lit mags, it was probably for the best that no one tried to quiet down the jovial Friday night crowd. If you weren’t there, your agoraphobia thanks you for it.

1. Elizabeth Clementson and Robert Lasner (the latter of IG Publishing), having a good time.

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— Sarah Lerner is a freelance event coordinator for the L Magazine. She contributes art and film reviews to Time Out New York.