READINGWRITING

There’s a difference between reading a story or poem and hearing it read aloud: a book can be savored anytime, but the spoken word is ephemeral, appreciable only by those within range of the reader’s voice. Several Sarah Lawrence alumnae/i are bringing together authors and audiences at ongoing reading series in New York City:

Ali Grace MFA ’04 curates the Post-MFA/ Pre-Book reading series at Cornelia Street Café. Held every other month, the readings feature three poets who inhabit what Grace calls the “limbo space” between graduate school and publication. Before they read, the poets speak briefly about how they’re learning to balance their craft with the pernicious demands of real life. For more information, contact agrace@slc.edu.

Estha Weiner ’72 showcases the work of selected Sarah Lawrence alumnae/i and faculty-“some famous, some as-yet-unpublished”-at the College’s NYC Writers’ Nights, which are attended by alumnae/i and current students. Held in Manhattan in the fall and spring, the readings run the gamut of genres, from fiction and poetry to theatre reviews, memoir and political writing. For more information, contact alum@sarahlawrence.edu.

The Speakeasy reading series, organized by Michael Hansen ’03, Heather O’Neill MFA ’04 and Tim Erickson MFA ’04, pairs some of the biggest names in poetry with the younger poets they admire. Held at the Bitter End bar in Greenwich Village, the monthly series has been written up in the New Yorker and Time Out New York; the reading on Super Bowl Sunday, featuring former U.S. poet laureate Mark Strand, drew a crowd of 100 people. The Speakeasy Web site confounds the transitory nature of the spoken word somewhat: audio recordings of the readings make the series “available to anyone, anywhere,” says Erickson. For more information, visit www.speakeasynyc.com.

—S.W.G.