Your Week in Virtual Book Events, May 10th to 16th

Celebrating Tumbling at 25: Diane McKinney-Whetstone in conversation with James Rahn
Monday, May 10, 5:30 pm EDT
This year marks the 25th anniversary of a beloved classic set in Philadelphia. To kick off the 215 Festival, join a reading and conversation with Tumbling’s author, Diane McKinney Whetstone, and James Rahn, founder of the Rittenhouse Writers’ Group, one of America’s longest-running and most prestigious independent fiction writing workshops. Free, with registration.

Rain Taxi Review of Books: Chris Bohjalian in Conversation With Sheila O’Connor
Monday, May 10, 6:30 pm EDT
Join Rain Taxi Review of Book for a special event with Chris Bohjalian, the New York Times bestselling author of Midwives (a selection of Oprah’s Book Club), Trans-Sister Radio (a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award), and The Flight Attendant (now a Golden Globe-winning HBO series), among many other smash hits. Bohjalian will be in conversation with Minnesota Book Award winner Sheila O’Connor about his new novel Hour of the Witch (Doubleday), a historical thriller set in 1662. Free, with registration.

One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race with Dr. Yaba Blay
Monday, May 10, 7:00 pm EDT
Dr. Yaba Blay will present her new book, followed by a conversation with writer Damon Young and RB host Carl Dix, considering the following questions: What exactly is Blackness and what does it mean to be Black? Is Blackness a matter of biology or consciousness? Who determines who is Black and who is not? Who’s Black, who’s not, and who cares? Free, with registration.

Next Chapter Booksellers: Shelley Nolden and Benee Knauer
Monday, May 10, 8:00 pm EDT
Shelley Nolden, author of The Vines, will be in conversation with her editor, Benee Knauer, about her novel and the publication process. Free, with registration.

Franklin Park Reading Series: Episode 13
Monday, May 10, 8:00 pm EDT
The Franklin Park Reading Series is thrilled to present a multigenre reading featuring Kaitlyn Greenidge (Libertie), Brandon Hobson (The Removed), Elissa Washuta (White Magic), and Dani Putney (Salamat sa Intersectionality), sharing newly released work. Free, via Zoom.

El Gran Combo 2021 Non-Fiction Edition
Monday, May 10, 8:00 pm EDT
Join Duende District in a conversation with authors Jaquira Díaz, Jennifer De Leon, Daisy Hernandez, Quiara Alegria Hudes, and Maria Hinojosa, moderated by Angie Cruz. Free, with registration.

Todd Lazarski in Conversation With Justin Kern
Monday, May 10, 8:00 pm EDT
Todd Lazarski, author of Spend It All, which chronicles Teddy Rawski’s journey to his hometown of Buffalo, and to the end of the night, will be in conversation with Justin Kern about this work. Free, via Zoom.

Shades of Black
Tuesday, May 11, 11:00 am EDT
Join a guided discussion of Shades of Black, about antiblack violence and the symbolism of Black political figures, followed by a conversation with Nathalie Etoke. Tickets start at $5. Register here.

Building Community and Collective Power
Tuesday, May 11, 6:00 pm EDT
Join three powerhouse writers and advocates, Tiffany D. Jackson, L’Oreal Payton, and Jeannine Cook of Harriett’s Bookshop, for an in-depth conversation with Permission to Write founder Ashley Coleman on how emerging writers can explore ways to build community, stay engaged with each other, and leverage resources that instill power in communities that foster growth. Free, with registration.

Transnational Series Presents: Jhumpa Lahiri with Yiyun Li
Tuesday, May 11, 7:00 pm EDT
Join the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith for a virtual event with Jhumpa Lahiri and Yiyun Li to discuss Lahiri’s new novel, Whereabouts, about a woman questioning her place in the world, wavers between stasis and movement, between the need to belong and the refusal to form lasting ties. Tickets start at $24 (includes a copy of the Lahiri’s novel). Register here.

Debutiful Presents: You Never Forget Your First
Tuesday, May 11, 7:00 pm EDT
Join the 215 Festival for an evening with three amazing debut authors being celebrated among the biggest fiction titles hitting bookstores this year. Presented by Debutiful, the popular debut fiction podcast, you will hear directly from the creative masterminds behind these addictive and alluring novels. Free, with registration.

Memoirs of a Fiction Writer: Courtney Zoffness and Gina Frangello in Conversation
Tuesday, May 11, 7:30 pm EDT
Join authors Courtney Zoffness (The Center for Fiction Emerging Writer Fellow) and Gina Frangello (A Life in Men, Every Kind of Wanting), who will discuss how years of writing fiction have informed their latest projects in narrative nonfiction. Free, with registration.

White Magic, Difficult Fruit, and the Witch of Eye: Kate Lebo, Kathryn Nuernberger, & Elissa Washuta
Tuesday, May 11, 8:00 pm EDT
Join Kate Lebo, Kathryn Nuernberger, and Elissa Washuta as they discuss their wonderful new nonfiction books. Free, with registration.

Alison Bechdel – “The Secret to Superhuman Strength”
Tuesday, May 11, 8:00 pm EDT
Alison Bechdel discusses her latest project, The Secret to Superhuman Strength, about her fascination, from childhood to adulthood, with every fitness craze to come down the pike: from Jack LaLanne in the 60s to the existential oddness of present-day spin class.. Free, with registration.

Joan Silber, in Conversation With CJ Hribal, Presents Secrets of Happiness
Tuesday, May 11, 8:00 pm EDT
Join Boswell for a special event with National Book Critics Circle Award winner Joan Silber, author of nine books of fiction. In her latest, Secrets of Happiness, man discovers his father in New York has long had another, secret, family—a wife and two kids. Silber will be in conversation with her longtime friend and fellow writer CJ Hribal, Professor of English at Marquette University and a fellow instructor at the Warren Wilson MFA Program for writers. Free, via Zoom.

bedfellows Magazine Presents: The Little Black Book!
Wednesday, May 12, 7:00 pm EDT
Join the editors of bedfellows, a biannual, Philly-based literary magazine focused on sex, desire, and intimacy—particularly work that subverts or confronts the stigmas often attached to writing about sex and the body—for a celebration of the forthcoming Little Black Book anthology. Since 2013, the magazine has published two issues each year; the anthology features new writing from dozens of prior bedfellows contributors! Free, with registration.

Sanjena Sathian in Conversation with Anuradha D Rajurkar
Wednesday, May 12, 8:00 pm EDT
Boswell presents an evening with debut novelist Sanjena Sathian, author of Gold Diggers, which Celeste Ng called ” a dizzyingly original, fiercely funny, deeply wise novel about the seductive powers—and dangers—of borrowed ambition.” Sanjena Sathian will be in conversation with Anuradha Rajurkar, author of American Betiya. Free, via Zoom.

Asian American Writers’ Workshop: Larissa Pham and R. O. Kwon
Wednesday, May 12, 8:00 pm EDT
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop will join Larissa Pham in celebrating her nonfiction debut, Pop Song. Finding inspiration in contemporary art, pop culture, and poetry—from Agnes Martin to Anne Carson—Pop Song is by turns intimate, vulnerable, and inventive, crafting a “perfectly fractured portrait of modern intimacy.” Larissa will be joined in conversation by R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries. Free, with registration.

Creating Hollywood Chinese
Wednesday, May 12, 8:00 pm EDT
In celebration of Asian American History Month, join WeHo Reads for a conversation between Academy Award-nominated Arthur Dong, author of Hollywood Chinese, and Charles Yu, author of Interior Chinatown, which won the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. Free, with registration.

White Magic Launch with Elissa Washuta and Billy-Ray Belcourt
Wednesday, May 12, 10:00 pm EDT
Celebrate Cowlitz Indian Tribe member Elissa Washuta’s newest release with Griffin Poetry Prize winner Billy-Ray Belcourt. Free, with registration.

White Magic: Elissa Washuta in Discussion with Nick White
Thursday, May 13, 7:00 pm EDT
Join Elissa Washuta as she discusses her new collection of personal essays, White Magic, with author and assistant professor of English, Nick White. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Writing Queer Lives
Thursday, May 13, 7:00 pm EDT
Melissa Faliveno, Krys Belc, and Chris Gonzalez will examine what it means to them to have the opportunity, the privilege, and the platform to bring queer lives to the page for a diverse readership. Free, with registration.

Thomas J. Mickey: All about Flowers: James Vick’s Nineteenth-Century Seed Company
Thursday, May 13, 7:30 pm EDT
Thomas Mickey—who illustrates how Vick inspired gardeners everywhere with his passion for flower gardening in his latest book All About Flowers—will be in conversation with garden writer and horticulturalist Christine Froehlich. Free, with registration.

Aunt Lute x POC United Presents a Reading: Isolation
Thursday, May 13, 8:00 pm EDT
Since the onset of the global pandemic in 2020, isolation has been, for good or bad, a major feature of life for many people across the world. In this 90-minute event, writers of color will share works honoring the pain, joy, injustice, comfort, and trauma of isolation. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Seeing and Being Seen: Asian Americans in American Letters
Friday, May 14, 7:00 pm EDT
Join Tracy O’Neill (author of Quotients), Sonya Chung (author of The Loved Ones), and Kevin Nguyen (author of New Waves) as they discuss the myriad ways our identities are impacted by a society organized in large part by watching and being watched in various spheres of our lives, through the perspectives Asian writers articulate in American literary fiction. With moderator Alex Lanz, these authors will explore the themes of race, culture, and life under various forms of observation as they reveal who is watching and who’s being seen in the contemporary novel. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Telling Contemporary Teen Stories in Challenging Times
Saturday, May 15, 10:00 am EDT
Join a crew of all-star local authors for an open discussion on the challenges and satisfactions of telling stories in a time that feels so in flux. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: World Building and Genre in Young Adult Literature
Saturday, May 15, 10:00 am EDT
Join five worldbuilders at the top of their craft as they delve into the ways and means of doing a god’s work. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Old Legends, New Voices: Eric Smith in conversation with Swapna Krishna & Jenn Northington
Saturday, May 15, 11:00 am EDT
Join local author Eric Smith in conversation with Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington, editors of Sword Stone Table, about reimagining the world. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: The World Republic of Letters
Saturday, May 15, 11:00 am EDT
In this panel discussion, four translators working in Philadelphia will discuss the community they have found in their work, explore different models of literary translation collectives, and address how the work is challenged and changed by the proximity of other translators. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Bottomless Brunch with Lanternfish Press: Stacy D. Flood, Matthew Vesely, Charlie J. Eskew, Caitlin Chung
Saturday, May 15, 12:00 pm EDT
Drinks welcome (alcoholic and nonalcoholic alike) at this bottomless brunch with four authors from Philly’s very own Lanternfish Press. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Regional Small Press Poetry Showcase!
Saturday, May 15, 1:00 pm EDT
Come check out what’s recently released and forthcoming from some of the greater Philadelphia region’s most beloved small presses, and see what’s new from your faves or soon-to-be newest faves. This event will feature authors and translators with books published or forthcoming from Bloof Books, Radiator Press, Barrelhouse, and Thread Makes Blanket. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood
Saturday, May 15, 1:00 pm EDT
This combined reading and generative workshop features poets Teri Ellen Cross Davis, Kendra DeColo, and Angela Narcisco Torres, contributors to the forthcoming anthology The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood. Anthology editors Nancy Reddy and Emily Pérez will lead participants in writing new work based on the readers’ poems, and a reading and short Q and A with our featured readers will follow. This event is open to any and all who are interested—participants need not identify as parents. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: “A Dog, A Seal, and a Bird”: Three stories by members of the Rittenhouse Writers’ Group
Saturday, May 15, 2:00 pm EDT
Join the 215 Festival for an afternoon of readings from three luminary writers of Rittenhouse Writers Group, one of America’s longest-running and most prestigious independent fiction writing workshops. Writers Lisa Paparone, Pat James, and Tom Teti will share excerpts of their work, with a discussion moderated by Rittenhouse Writers Group founder, James Rahn, to immediately follow. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Publishing in the Time of COVID: Local Writers With Books Out During the Pandemic
Saturday, May 15, 3:00 pm EDT
This reading celebrates writers from the Philadelphia area, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York whose terrific books were published over the last year. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Documenting an Unfinished Uprising
Saturday, May 15, 4:00 pm EDT
In How We Stay Free, a forthcoming collection from the Paul Robeson House & Museum and Common Notions Press, Fajr Muhammad and Christopher R. Rogers seek to document the many stories of movement work, how 2020 is a step in a long tradition of Black liberation and how Black Philadelphians continue to reckon and do the work toward liberation. This panel brings together contributors, the editors and the publisher to talk about the unfolding project, its significance, and what it means to try to document an unfinished moment. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Inside and Out: A Conversation with Nadia Owusu and Francisco Goldman
Saturday, May 15, 4:00 pm EDT
In this discussion, two extraordinary writers—Francisco Goldman (author of Monkey Boy) and Nadia Owusu (author of Aftershocks)—will come together to explore how their complex and divided identities shaped them, how their difficult childhoods changed them, and how they have rooted themselves as adults. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Decentralize Publishing!
Saturday, May 15, 5:00 pm EDT
Leaders of five thriving small “outsider” presses talk about the decentralization of the publishing industry, recent past, pandemic present, and bright future of publishing outside of NYC. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: In The Stars: Writers, Astrologers, and Tarotists on Mysticism/Tarot Today
Saturday, May 15, 5:00 pm EDT
This session discussion will dig into the panelists’ relationships with tarot and astrology, as well as the place of these mystical mediums in the creative process and the current cultural moment of heightened popularity and awareness. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Labor Writing in Philly
Saturday, May 15, 6:00 pm EDT
Join members, organizers, and some purveyors of the written word as we explore the state of the city’s organized labor and the role that the media mediates between direct action, political power, and public perception in the city where it all began. Free, with registration.

Transnational Series: Najwan Darwish and Kareem James Abu-Zeid
Saturday, May 15, 6:00 pm EDT
Join the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith and the Boston Palestine Film Festival for a virtual Nakba Day event with poet Najwan Darwish and translator Kareem James Abu-Zeid to discuss Exhausted on the Cross. They’ll be in conversation with writer Nathalie Handal. Free (though donations are welcome), with registration.

215 Festival: An Evening with The Claw
Saturday, May 15, 8:00 pm EDT
Join us for an evening of readings from the writers of The Claw, a local writing group comprising 19 professional fiction and nonfiction writers, which Philadelphia Magazine named as a Best of Philly in 2020 and credited as a driving force in Philadelphia’s literary renaissance. Free, with registration.

215 Festival: Footnotes: Literary Dance Party
Saturday, May 15, 8:00 pm EDT
Celebrate with us at the festival’s final event: Footnotes. Groove to beats dropped by the Philly literary community’s hippest DJs. The dance party will be hosted on Bramble, an innovative video conferencing website that allows you to mingle selectively among event attendees and explore a unique virtual world, all while dancing your butt off. The event is free and open to the public, but a suggested donation of $10 will be split between the 215 Festival and Mighty Writers, a nonprofit that teaches more than 3,000 kids to write with clarity every year in and around Philadelphia, PA, and in Camden and Atlantic City, NJ. Free, with registration.

P&P Live! Joshua Coombes: Do Something For Nothing with Mark Andersen
Sunday, May 16, 3:00 pm EDT
Join P&P Live! in partnership with Thrive DC to discuss Joshua Coombes’s new book, Do Something For Nothing, with Mark Anderson. Free, with registration.