Bryant Park Reading Room 2019

Oxford University Press has once again teamed up with the Bryant Park Reading Room on their summer literary series.

Established in 1935, the Bryant Park Reading room was created by the New York Public Library as a refuge for thousands of unemployed New Yorkers during the Great Depression. Today the Reading Room is thriving once again. As part of the Bryant Park program, Oxford University Press has created a special book club where we pair acclaimed contemporary authors with a classic title from the Oxford World’s Classics series.

Check out the line-up below. Prior to each event, stop by Bryant Park to pick up a free copy of the book club choice while supplies lasts. The Reading Room is located in Bryant Park, right behind the NYPL Main Branch, on 42nd street between 5th and 6th Ave.

1. Tuesday, June 4, 2019 – Kayleen Schaefer, author of Text Me When You Get Home, discussing Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Kayleen Schaefer is a journalist and author of the bestselling Kindle Single memoir Fade Out. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Vogue, and many other publications. She currently lives in New York City, and Text Me When You Get Home is her first book.
   
2. Tuesday, June 18, 2019 – Barry Strauss, author of Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine, discussing The Gallic War by Julius Caesar, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Barry Strauss, professor of history and classics at Cornell University, is a leading expert on ancient military history. He has written or edited several books, including The Battle of Salamis, The Trojan War, The Spartacus War, Masters of Command, and The Death of Caesar.
   
3. Tuesday, July 2, 2019 – Abbigail N. Rosewood, author of If I Had Two Lives, discussing Thomas De Quincey’s On Murder, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Abbigail N. Rosewood was born in Vietnam, where she lived until the age of twelve. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. An excerpt from her first novel won first place in the Writers Workshop of Asheville Literary Fiction Contest. She lives in New York.
   
4. Tuesday, July 16, 2019 – H.S. Cross, author of GRIEVOUS: A Novel, discussing Charlotte Brontë’s Villette, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. H. S. Cross was born in Grosse Point, Michigan. She was educated at Harvard and has taught at Friends Seminary, among other schools. Her debut novel, Wilberforce, was published by FSG in 2015.
   
5. Tuesday, July 30, 2019 – James Mustich, author of 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List, discussing The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. James Mustich began his career in bookselling at an independent book store in Briarcliff Manor, New York, in the early 1980s. In 1986, he co-founded the acclaimed book catalog, A Common Reader, and was for two decades its guiding force. He subsequently has worked as an editorial and product development executive in the publishing industry. He lives with his wife, Margot, in Connecticut.
6. Tuesday, August 13, 2019 – Jeremy Dauber, author of Mayhem and Madness, discussing L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Jeremy Dauber grew up devouring classic science fiction and comic books. A professor at Columbia University, he is the author of several adult nonfiction works including Jewish Comedy: A Serious History. Mayhem and Madness his debut novel for young readers. He lives in New York City with his wife and his three young children, who insist on making him the supervillain in their games every single time.

Featured image credit: “People sitting on the grass of city park” by Krisztina Papp. Public Domain via Unsplash.