Mid-September Events Calendar
We host events nearly every night and you will not be turned away from an event at Bluestockings for lack of money.
Wednesday, September 15th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Diane Lefer “The Blessing Next to the Wound”
Growing up poor in Colombia, Hector Aristizabal had the wiles and luck to survive the endemic violence of leftist guerrillas, rightist death squads, cocaine cartels. As a university student, Aristizabal was seized by the military, held in secret, and tortured. He emerged changed: vengeful yet committed to nonviolent activism. Join Diane Lefer for a reading and discussion of “The Blessing Next to the Wound,” an evocative memoir and full-throated affirmation of life. Diane Lefer is an activist, novelist and co-author of the book.
Thursday, September 16th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Kim Kelly “L.E.S.: Love Eloquence & Stars”
Come cheer on public school teacher Kim Kelly as she reads from “L.E.S.: Love Eloquence & Stars,” her newly published young adult novel set in the Lower East Side and offering a tale about the complexity of friendships in high school. Kelly is the head of the English Department at East Side Community School in the L.E.S. where she also coaches girls basketball.
Friday, September 17th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Teun Voeten “Tunnel People”
At the end of the 20th Century, a small number of Manhattan’s growing homeless population moved into the tunnels below the city. Photojournalist and cultural anthropologist Teun Voeten followed and lived among them until the government evicted everyone. Join Voeten for a reading and presentation of his book about the tunnel people - including Vietnam veterans, macrobiotic hippies, crack addicts, and philosophical recluses. Voeten has since worked as a journalist and photographer in areas of violent conflict - such as Rwanda, Sudan, Angola, Afghanistan, Colombia and Gaza - for the likes of Vanity Fair, National Geographic, the International Red Cross, and Doctors without Borders.
Saturday, September 18th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Daniel Burton-Rose “Creating a Movement with Teeth”
With Bo Brown (former member of the George Jackson Brigade)
In 1975, the George Jackson Brigade burst into existence - bombing corporate and state property, robbing banks, and publishing a large body of communiqués to explain their intentions to the public. Its members came from other movements - women’s rights, black liberation, gay rights - and drew upon anarchist and communist ideologies. Join editor Daniel Burton-Rose and anarcha-feminist Bo Brown for a reading and discussion of the new book “Creating a Movement with Teeth: A Documentary History of the George Jackson Brigade.”
Sunday, September 19th @ 4PM - Free
Knitting: Dyke Knitting Circle Returns!
Our summer break has ended. Come in and knit, make new friends, drink some tea, and learn a craft at a self-help and member-led group. The Dyke Knitting Circle is open to all levels of queer experience and all levels of knitting proficiency. Bring yarn and needles. Join us any third Sunday of the month.
Sunday, September 19th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Terese Svoboda “Pirate Talk or Mermalade”
Aye, celebrate if ye’ must b’ ye’ll ne’er get me buried booty. Arrr, ahoy, be talkin’ like a pyrate on Talk Like A Pirate Day wit’ local matey and ‘ol town scribe Terese Svoboda wit’ a tallest tale nam’d “Pirate Talk or Mermalade” is a no’el in ‘oices wit’ two brrrotherrrs come ‘crrross a merrrmaid, fall int’ piratin’, and end trrravelin’ up t’ th’ arrrctic. Gar. Gar. http://bit.ly/cwaRAh
Wednesday, September 22nd @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Presentation: News & Letters “Raya Dunayevskaya Centenary”
Raya Dunayevskaya (1910-1987) founded the paper “News & Letters,” and wrote four books on a variety of freedom struggles - particularly focusing on women’s liberation and gender bias. Her writings provide the philosophical underpinnings of Marxist- Humanism. Join Franklin Dmitryev of News & Letters Committee, Paul Geist musician and social justice activist since World War II, Susan Van Gelder writer and active in the women’s liberation movement since the early 70’s, and union organizer Steve Katz for a celebration and discussion of the work of Dunayevskaya.
Thursday, September 23rd @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Billy Wimsatt “Please Don’t Bomb The Suburbs”
In his just published memoir “Please Don’t Bomb The Suburbs,” William Upski Wimsatt covers the last 25 years of his cultural and political engagement as a member of both Generation X and Generation Y. Wimsatt reflects on adulthood, philanthropy, and race - and proposes a provocative vision for the next 25 years to create a super-charged, super-effective, Super Movement!!! A maverick graffiti artist, journalist and founder of “League of Young Voters,” Wimsatt has been honored as a “visionary” by Utne Reader and wrote the (other) book “Bomb The Suburbs.”
Friday, September 24th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Zane Grant “We Will Bury You”
Zane Grant presents his comic book “We Will Bury You.” It’s a love story about two young women - one a thief, the other an anarchist escort - and their survival during the well documented zombie outbreak in 1920’s New York. Join Zane for a short presentation of historic zombie-filled news clips and for a discussion of queer sexuality and gender in horror films.
Saturday, September 25th @ 7PM - $5 to $10 Suggested
Performance: Butch Voices NYC & “Queer Memoir + Sideshow”
As part of the regional gathering of butches (butchvoices.com), we’ve got storytelling - raucous, sublime, celebratory. Queer Memoir curators Genne Murphy and Kelli Dunham bring out tales complex, universal, queer. Sideshow (or perhaps better known as the “Queer Literary Carnival”) curators Sinclair Sexsmith and Cheryl B present serious literature for ridiculous times.
Sunday, September 26th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Lisa Jervis “Cook Food”
If eating healthy meals sounds difficult, or if choosing sustainably produced food seems too complex, then please come out for a reading and discussion with Lisa Jervis, the author of “Cook Food.” With a conversational do-it-yourself vibe, the book offers practical approaches to everyday cooking on a budget and has lots of animal-free recipes. Lisa Jervis is the founder and publisher of Bitch Magazine, and is the director of finance and operations at the Center for Media Justice.
Monday, September 27th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Tyche Hendricks “The Wind Doesn’t Need a Passport”
The divide between the U.S. and Mexico isn’t an unbending line. The border is porous - with people crossing and re-crossing daily for work, school, family, shopping. Tyche Hendricks documents the intermixing of cultures, problems, and experiences in “The Wind Doesn’t Need a Passport: Stories from the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands.” Join Hendricks for a honest look at this misunderstood region and for a discussion of reforms to immigration and drug policies that would better serve us all.
Tuesday, September 28th @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Women’s / Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike
Featuring Rosamond S. King & Christine Rodriguez
Rosamond S. King performs “Flesh,” a rumination on the physical body from illness to pleasure and crafted in verse-cabaret style, including song and spoken word. Christine Rodriguez writes about the clashes and the harmonies lived when sexuality, spirituality and recreational drug misuse are twined together. Hosted by Vittoria Repetto - the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the Lower East Side - the jam has showcased the famous, the infamous, the unknown for over a decade. Come out and deliver (up to) 8 minutes of your poetry, prose, songs and spoken word.
Wednesday, September 29th @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Attention: UK Zinesters Wrekk NYC!
Tonight the “Zines on Toast” tour stops at Bluestockings, including: Steve Larder, Isy Morgenmuffle, Edd Baldry, Tom Fiction, Natalie Anarchafeminist and the american-in-the-bunch Alex Wrekk. These folks are responsible for the likes of Last Hours, Hey Monkey Riot, Morgenmuffel Zine, Brainscan, Stolen Sharpie Revolution, Rum Lad Zine, Another Dinner is Possible, Portland Zine Symposium, and London Zine Symposium. So join them for accounts of UK zine culture, UK social centres, revolution, punk rock, anarchy and more… on toast!
Thursday, September 30th @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Presentation: Maharawal & Spataro “So-Called Marginalia Re-Tweeted Thrice”
Scribbles, comics, and field notes… Activists, academics, anyone… Manissa Maharawal and David Spataro present the literary flourishes that compete with annotations in the margins of an academic text, the dramatic, tender, human narratives blended into scientific field notes, the parentheticals (insertion joke goes here) found in meeting notes.
Friday, October 1st @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Sheila Rowbotham “Dreamers of A New Day”
Welcome distinguished feminist historian Sheila Rowbotham for a reading and discussion of “Dreamers of a New Day: Women Who Invented the Twentieth Century.” Rowbotham is eloquent and her newest book is ambitious, insightful, and uniquely organized in topical sections (such as: sexuality, work, parenting). This approach highlights the distinct and oftentimes discordant motivations and goals of women agitators while also revealing the messy process of social reinvention - rather than merely reporting its conclusion.
Sunday, October 3rd @ 2:30PM - Free
Feminist Book Club: Kimmel’s “Guyland”
The Feminist Book Club reads and discusses feminism. We make no claim about what feminism is or whom it serves, and are not a forum for any particular feminist platform. Rather, we rely on feminism(s). We read theoretical texts, literature and primary works. We welcome all genders, political persuasions, and levels of familiarity. This month’s book (available at Bluestockings) is “Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men” by Michael Kimmel.
Tuesday, October 5th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Ryan Conrad “Against Equality”
While debates about gay marriage have entered the mainstream, the rowdy radical queers from the Against Equality Collective have been dissenting against queer inclusion in marital institutions. Join outlaw artist and terrorist academic Ryan Conrad for a reading from “Against Equality: Queer Critiques of Gay Marriage” and for a discussion of the queer critiques against dominant cultural values.
Friday, October 8th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Kate Bornstein “Gender Outlaws”
From the streets and workplaces and showplaces and the internets, Kate Bornstein and co-editor S. Bear Bergman gathered transgender and genderqueer writers… and the result is “Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation,” an anthology of commentary, comic art, and conversations about barrier-breaking by sex/gender radicals from across the trans-spectrum. So come out… welcome the original gender outlaw Kate Bornstein along with contributors to the book… and enjoy a night of gender anarchy.
Sunday, October 10th @ 12:30PM - Free
Radical Educators Meetup
Join a group of educators engaged in inquiry of critical texts for a meetup and collaborative discussion of pedagogical values and practices. Please contact stina@riseup.net for more information.
Wednesday, October 13th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Rebecca Traister “Big Girls Don’t Cry”
The 2008 election cycle was transformative - not only for the election of Barack Obama, but because both major parties had women vying for positions at the White House. Traister covered the campaign for salon.com from a feminist perspective. Join her for a reading from “Big Girls Don’t Cry: The Election that Changed Everything for American Women,” and for her startling appraisal the outcome’s significance for the nation.
Thursday, October 14th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Dara Lovitz “Muzzling a Movement”
Tonight, attorney and author Dara Lovitz discusses her book “Muzzling a Movement: The Effects of Anti-Terrorism Law, Money, and politics on Animal Activism.” She’ll present the history of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and analyze the case against the SHAC-7. Lovitz has written extensively on the topics of animal and eco-terror laws, and teaches these subjects at Drexel and Temple University.
Friday, October 15th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Dr. Glenda Corwin “Sexual Intimacy for Women”
Worried about lesbian bed death? Wanna know the quantitative truths about lesbian intimacies from an experienced clinical psychologist? Need to hear some good stories? Then you should join us and Dr. Glenda Corwin for a discussion of her book “Sexual Intimacy for Women: A Guide for Same-Sex Couples,” in which Corwin blends hard data and qualitative reflection and yields good advice for keeping your sexy sexy.