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National Bookmobile Day: Historically SpeakEasy

At House of SpeakEasy we believe that book-ownership should be a right, not a privilege. In 2017, with the help of Billy and Kathy Rayner, we launched The SpeakEasy Bookmobile. We came up with the design logo – but – historically speaking – the idea was Aristotle’s. Owning a book is a unique form of wealth. What the SpeakEasy BookMobile is doing is enabling that wealth to be shared. The kings of Babylon built the first libraries. But they weren’t so interested in the sharing part. This is where Aristotle comes in. He amassed the largest private collection of books in the world, and let it circulate. But since not everyone could read, Aristotle also shared the knowledge they contained by giving free lectures throughout Athens. He turned himself into a bookmobile – on legs. Aristotle’s mission was the same as SpeakEasy’s today: to foster a sense of community, spread ideas, and educate young people. Libraries and mass literacy were among the first casualties from the Fall of Rome in the 5th century. Book ownership became the greatest privilege of all. Few people ever questioned why it should be this way until the rise of universal education in the 19th […]

On small presses, reading, writing and determination

The Bookmobile at Small Press Flea, 2022 On Saturday, August 20th, the Bookmobile rolled up onto the concourse of the Grand Army branch of the Brooklyn Public Library for the annual Small Press Flea (SPF). Throughout the day, hundreds of book lovers of all stripes mingled with the regular patrons of the weekly farmer’s market happening across the street. The SPF debuted nine years ago, a collaboration between a dozen or so independent publishers. Since then, the event has grown exponentially, drawing over 30 vendors, including independent publishers, magazines, and presses, such as One Story, n+1, and A Public Space. It attracts Brooklyn’s literari from all boroughs. It was no coincidence that SpeakEasy staffers kept seeing familiar faces from editors at Reckless Books and Archipelago pass by. Unlike the majority of our bookmobile deployments, where we distribute brand new free books to communities in need, the SPF presented a rare opportunity for us to sell books., A portion of the proceeds go directly to support our year-round outreach programs, embodied by the Bookmobile itself.. We partnered with Greenlight Books who provided us books at bargain rates for the bookworm on a budget. This year, we featured titles from authors who […]

On supporting a (reading) ecosystem

When the Bookmobile rolled up to Red Hook, Brooklyn for a graduation celebration in partnership with the Red Hook Initiative, it was met by six-year-old Jeremiah — who had a plan.

On actively engaging with heritage

While the Juneteenth weekend festivities were overwhelmingly celebratory, the Center consciously structured their Fifth of July as a day of both joyful recognition and contemplation.

On Loving a Place

Again and again, I saw individuals’ commitment to the neighborhoods they call home.

Writers and Storytelling: Larry Olmsted

Larry Olmsted is an award-winning journalist who has been a visiting professor at Dartmouth College, where he taught nonfiction writing. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Real Food / Fake Food and Getting into Guinness, a history of the Guinness Book of World Records, a book for which he broke three world records himself while researching, and the new book Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier and More Understanding. He currently writes online columns for Forbes and USA Today, and he appears regularly on television and radio. On May 25th, Larry will join Amber Hunt, Gabriela Garcia, and Nancy Sherman in our next edition of “Seriously Entertaining” where they will each tell stories tied to the theme “I Scream, You Scream.” Register here for the show! What are you reading right now for solace or escape or entertainment? The new Equalizer reboot with Queen Latifah. Oh wait, that’s a TV show. I bought the new Stephen King book If It Bleeds at the start of pandemic but never opened it. I have stacks of unread “to read” books. Frankly I’ve been too busy with interviews and writing spin-off op-eds for own new book Fans, and I just listened to it in its entirety as an audio […]

Writers and Storytelling: Michelle Nijhuis

Michelle Nijhuis is a project editor at The Atlantic, a contributing editor at High Country News, and an award-winning reporter whose work has been published in National Geographic and the New York Times Magazine. She is co-editor of The Science Writers’ Handbook and lives in White Salmon, Washington. Her new book Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction is out now. On April 20th, Michelle will join Annabelle Gurwitch and Sanjena Sathian in our next edition of “Seriously Entertaining” where they will each tell stories tied to the theme “Only Home We’ve Ever Known.” Register here for the show! What are you reading right now for solace or escape or entertainment? A lot of people enjoy true crime, but I much prefer fake crime, where nobody gets hurt and the trail leads, however circuitously, toward justice. I enjoy fake espionage, too. (RIP, John le Carré.) If you could live inside a fictional world, which one would you choose? Send me to Victorian London to tag along with Sherlock Holmes, or to Oxford to meet up with Harriet Vane. Better yet, make me their reference librarian; I’l scour the archives while they do the legwork. Are there […]

Writers and Storytelling: Sanjena Sathian

A Paul and Daisy Soros fellow, Sanjena Sathian is a 2019 graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She has worked as a reporter in Mumbai and San Francisco, with nonfiction bylines for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Food & Wine, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, and more. And her award-winning short fiction has been published in Boulevard, Joyland, Salt Hill, and The Master’s Review. Her debut novel Gold Diggers is out now. On April 20th, Sanjena will join Annabelle Gurwitch and Michelle Nijhuis in our next edition of “Seriously Entertaining” where they will each tell stories tied to the theme “Only Home We’ve Ever Known.” Register here for the show! What are you reading right now for solace or escape or entertainment? At the moment, I’m reading The Four Books by Yan Lianke. I’m not sure it’s solace, escape, OR entertainment, but it’s a completely brilliant, Kafkaesque satire about China’s Great Leap Forward. If you could live inside a fictional world, which one would you choose? It would be fun to be college friends with Selin from Elif Batuman’s The Idiot or to have drinks and kvetch with any of Lorrie Moore’s female characters. Are […]

Writers and Storytelling: Mary H. K. Choi

Mary H. K. Choi is a writer for The New York Times, GQ, Wired, and The Atlantic. She has written comics for Marvel and DC, as well as a collection of essays called Oh, Never Mind. Her novels Emergency Contact and Permanent Record were New York Times bestsellers. She is the host of Hey, Cool Job!, a podcast about jobs, and Hey, Cool Life!, a podcast about mental health and creativity. Mary grew up in Hong Kong and Texas and now lives in New York. Her new book Yolk is out now. On March 23rd, Mary will join Melissa Febos, Avi Loeb, and Nic Stone in our next edition of “Seriously Entertaining” where they will each tell stories tied to the theme “From This Moment On.” Register here for the show! What are you reading right now for solace or escape or entertainment? Earthlings by Sayaka Murata for the hard re-set and Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series. If you could live inside a fictional world, which one would you choose? Thank you, no thank you! Hard pass. I’m almost done with this place and it’s the devil I know. Are there any quotes you use to inspire you? “Do less.” […]

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