The Lit List! 6/17–23

The Lit List is a sometimes-weekly compendium of New York’s finest literary events and readings. All events are 100% free unless stated otherwise. Something you think we should know about? Email dish@electricliterature.com

Monday, June 17

Jami Attenberg and Francesca Segal will be at BookCourt tonight at 7 PM. Rumor says that this is the reading that trashes the back to make room for the new drinking/reading room the bookstore is planning to open.

If you’re in the city, you can catch Karen Shepard and Karen Russell at McNally Jackson to discuss Shepard’s new novel The Celestials. Our contribution to their Q&A: please discuss what it’s like to be named Karen. 7 PM.

Tuesday, June 18

At WORD in Greenpoint, it’s “International Crime Night” with Michael Reynolds (Europa Editions), Jason Pinter (Grove/Atlantic), and Dennis Johnson (Melville House). The Hamburglar may or may not appear with a manuscript of his memoir. 7 PM.

At the Strand, Leigh Newman, Moses Gates, Royal Young, Pamera Ryckman, and Sue Shapiro will let you in on the publishing world’s skeletons and secrets at 7 PM. (psst … the Strand asks you to buy a $15 gift card in exchange for the pleasure of your company.)

In a mystical, faraway place called the Upper East Side, gaggles of Manhattanites attend the Thalia Book Club at Symphony Space, and tonight they discuss Claire Messud’s The Woman Upstairs. Non-Symphonites need $25 to enter. 7:30 PM.

Wednesday, June 19

Beards, tattoos, piercings, and well-loved band t-shirts from the early ’80s at WORD, where Vol. 1 Brooklyn’s Jason Diamond hosts a conversation with Pulitzer Prize winner Lucian Perkins and musician-writer Alec Mackaye (person in this band, brother to this dude) about their book Hard Art, DC 1979, a chronicle about the rise and development of punk in DC in the early 80s. 7 PM.

Neil Gaiman hits the last stop of his book tour is tonight at Symphony Space, where he will read from his new novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which “captures the very essence of childhood fear and uncertainty.” Tickets $45. Unless you’re 30 & under, which will cost you $35.

Philipp Meyer is at Greenlight Bookstore tonight to present The Son, a “multi-generational epic set in Texas.” No word if the Judge makes a cameo appearance as a bartender, waiter, or bellboy in this novel. 7:30 PM.

Thursday, June 20

Questlove. Ben Greenman. powerHouse Arena. DUMBO. Nothing more needs to be said. (Questlove!). 7 PM.

Sunday, June 23

After a long, slow weekend, the New York literary world descends on the Community Bookstore in Park Slope for “Real and Critical: Bridging Narrative Nonfiction and Cultural Criticism.” This is the first event in a series that explores how writers use their personal narratives in a critical setting. Michelle Orange, Jacob Silverman, Porochista Khakpour, and Michael Robbins kick it off. 5PM.