Registration is free. In-person attendees will be admitted on a first-come, first-seated basis.

The Center for Fiction is proud to celebrate 100 years of James Baldwin at the 2024 Brooklyn Book Festival with a conversation between five exciting, contemporary writers: Regina Porter (The Rich People Have Gone Away), Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois), Kim Coleman Foote (Coleman Hill), Shayla Lawz (speculation, n.), and Francesca Momplaisir (My Mother’s House), who will moderate the conversation.

Discovering the work of James Baldwin is an experience every reader remembers. His prose electrifies the mind and opens the heart in ways that feel at once revolutionary and eternally true. This event explores the work of this visionary writer through the women in novels. Each panelist will read from a different Baldwin novel and consider how his depictions of womanhood add layers to the text and enable readers to understand Baldwin’s literature–and legacy–in fresher, deeper ways.

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT.

Shayla Lawz discusses her recent debut, speculation, n., with Ada Limón, who reflects on her first book LUCKY WRECK (2006).

This event is virtual. CLICK HERE to register

In-store celebration for the publication of speculation, n. by Shayla Lawz. In Conversation with Christopher Greggs.

This is a ticketed, in-person event. Please note that admission to this event requires either a purchase of the book OR a $5 admission voucher. Books and vouchers can be purchased online in advance or at the door on the day of the event; advance orders will be available for pickup at the store on the day of the event. The admission voucher functions like a gift card and is good toward $5 off anything in store at WORD on the day of the event only. 

Seating is limited to allow for social distancing. Masks are required throughout the entirety of the event. Your name, address and phone number will be collected for contact tracing purposes. Do not attend the event if you are feeling ill. Location and time subject to change.

Due to the recent "Key to NYC" mandates, we will be requiring proof of vaccination to attend this event. Acceptable proof includes:

Excelsior Pass

CDC Vaccination Card (or photo)

NYC Vaccination Record

An official immunization record from outside NYC or the U.S

For more information visit https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-vaccines-keytonyc.page

Please join us on Thursday, October 28, 2021 at 7PM @ Powerhouse ARENA in Brooklyn, NY to celebrate the launch of “speculation, n.”

AN INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE including music, light drinks, and books for purchase signed by the author. Readers will include Shayla Lawz, Carly Inghram, Sabrina Imbler, and Joselia Rebekah Hughes.

RSVP NOW: CLICK HERE

PLEASE NOTE: COVID protocol will be observed (masks required, socially distanced) and seating may be limited. Please stay home if you are feeling ill.

White Whale Bookstore is delighted to partner up with local press Autumn House in order to celebrate their fall 2021 poetry releases! We’ll be joined by poets Shayla Lawz, author of speculation, n.; Natalie Homer, author of Under the Broom Tree; Carly Inghram, author of The Animal Indoors; and Sean Cho A., author of American Home!

You can order speculation, Under the Broom Tree, The Animal Indoors, and American Home on our website! Check out our site here to view all of our upcoming events and local partnerships, purchase books directly from our inventory, and place orders for books we don't currently have in stock.

These authors’ books are also available on our Bookshop.org list for recent and upcoming events. Check out our curated lists and picks on our main Bookshop.org affiliate page, or use the search bar in the upper center-right to look for any book. (Using the book's ISBN usually works best.)

This event will be hosted on Zoom. You'll receive the link to the Zoom meeting the day of the event via email. Free registration/ticket sales will end at 6:30pm ET on 10/24. Please email events@whitewhalebookstore.com if you miss this cut-off and need a ticket. For questions, check out our FAQ for events here.

Come join us virtually for the release of Carly Inghram’s new poetry collection The Animal Indoors at 7PM on Sunday, September 26th.

Join Soul Sister Revue for its summer show as we ask the question “What does Soul mean to you?” Readers include Ada Limón (The Carrying), Douglas Kearney (Sho), Destiny O. Birdsong (Negotiations), Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta (Things to Pack on the Way to Everywhere), and Shayla Lawz (speculation, n.). The event is free, but registration is required.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soul-sister-revue-w-ada-limon-douglas-kearney-destiny-birdsong-more-tickets-162498197483

A celebration of Audre Lorde brought to you by Dianca London. Featuring poetry, candle making, and a ceremony in her honor. Sliding scale for POC.

WordHack feat. Kashmir Hill, Qianxun Chen and Shay Lawz

WordHack is a monthly evening of performances and talks exploring the intersection of language and technology. Code poetry, digital literature, e-lit, language games, coders interested in the creative side, writers interested in new forms writing can take, all are welcome here.

This month we will feature talks and performances by:

KASHMIR HILL (http://twitter.com/kashhill)

QIANXUN CHEN (http://chenqianxun.com)

SHAY LAWZ (https://shaylalawz.com/)

We also have an OPEN PROJECTOR (like an open mic for digital work) where anyone can come up and show their work (for 5 minutes). Signup starts at 6:45, and will fill up so get here early! Performers start at 7:15. Host & Curator: TODD ANDERSON (http://toddwords.com) SUGGESTED DONATION $5-10

Celebrate the breadth of Black poetry as a new group of 2019 retreat fellows share original work in 4-minute intervals. Free and open to the public. Refreshments served.

Join us for an evening of readings and screenings commemorating the release of Mark Baumer's posthumous chapbook MEOW (Burnside Press, 2019). In January 2017, writer, poet, and activist Mark Baumer was struck and killed by an SUV in rural Florida while walking barefoot cross-country to raise awareness of climate change. He once wrote 50 books in a single year. He performed at Babycastles in July 2017.

Chat Club PVD is a series of experimental performance and media. A bi-monthly curated cabaret and community salon, Chat Club PVD celebrates art that challenges genre, cultural hegemony, and institutions of the avant-garde. Chat Club embraces an exploratory, DIY ethos and provides an inclusive, supportive space for artistic experimentation, expression, and community conversations for performers and attendees. Performances include and are not limited to comedy (stand-up, sketch, improv), music, installation, literary readings, screenings, storytelling, performance art, and more. Chat Club PVD gathers to spark and sustain artistic collaboration and investigation.

Writer’s Forum is Pratt Institute’s bi-weekly reading series and discussion seminar specifically for students in the Writing Program. It is a place to consider the ideas, motivations, methodologies, and careers of both local and visiting writers—among them essayists, novelists, poets, journalists, playwrights, screenwriters, editors, translators, critics, and performers—and to join in thoughtful conversations about writing with professionals in the field. Writer’s Forum readings are free and open to the public.