Late August Events Calendar

We host events nearly every night and you will not be turned away from an event at Bluestockings for lack of money.

Sunday, August 22nd @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Katelan V. Foisy “Blood & Pudding”
Obsessions, addictions, first loves, deaths, and traveling! In the scrapbook-memoir “Blood & Pudding,” Katelan V. Foisy transcribes mixed tapes, reproduces journal entries, and offers tales of hard-fast living (think: Nancy Spungen and Neal Cassady on a road trip). Joining Foisy to celebrate will be John S. Hall (author, singer in King Missile), Lenox Parker (subversive crank novelist), Mike Lala (semi-itinerant poet), and Eric Nelson (a sweet Queens dwelling writer).

Tuesday, August 24th @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Discussion: Making Policy Public “Beyond The Bars”
Come out for a panel discussion about the costs and consequences of the American criminal justice system(s) with particular focus on three populations: non-citizens, youth and the formerly incarcerated. Our panelists are involved in projects serving these populations, including moderator John Mangin (of The Center for Urban Pedagogy), Michelle Fei (from the Immigrant Defense Project), Nancy Fishman (from the Center for Court Innovation) and Kate Rubin (of the Bronx Defenders). Visit makingpolicypublic.net for more.

Wednesday, August 25th @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Presentation: Ana Tajder “From Barbie to Vibrator”
She was a living barbie doll… posh, alpha, seductive, playful. In short episodes of truth and fiction, Ana Tajder’s book “From Barbie to Vibrator” looks at a young barbie’s metamorphosis into a young woman - and provides a portrait of a generation that got lost in their freedoms. Tajder was raised in Zagreb, has lived her adult life in Vienna, and is a journalist and author. Visit tajder.com for more.

Thursday, August 26th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: John Atlas “Seeds of Change”
ACORN was founded in 1970. By 2008, ACORN had over a thousand chapters across the U.S. with an operating budget of 25 million dollars. Today, just two years later, ACORN doesn’t exist. Join John Atlas for a reading and discussion of “Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN,” the definitive, inside, and unvarnished recounting of ACORN’s history and destruction. Atlas is a longtime public interest lawyer, journalist, and founder of the National Housing Institute.

Tuesday, August 31st @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Presentation: Dee & Hübner “Feminist Anti-War Strategies”
At the end of August, 90000 U.S. soldiers will leave Iraq. This is wonderful. However, 50000 U.S. soldiers and 75000 private paramilitary members will remain. Join feminist peace activists Jean Dee and Kathi Hübner for a viewing of “Iraqi Women Speak Out” (2006, 16 minutes) and for a discussion on feminist anti-war strategies.

Saturday, September 4th @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Presentation: Jo Weldon “Glitter and Rebellion”
Neo-burlesque is flourishing. New performers are expanding the scene, experienced performers are traveling the world, and the glitter and rebellion of burlesque is influencing other artistic disciplines. Join Jo Weldon for a look at the underground origins (drag, fetish, sex work, punk) of neo-burlesque, and for a discussion of the worrisome possibility that mainstream acceptance will diminish the outlaw integrity of this vibrant culture. Jo Weldon (aka Jo Boobs) is the Headmistress and Founder of the New York School of Burlesque. Her heels have stood on stages about the globe with the likes of Leonard Cohen, Margaret Cho, and Spinal Tap. She is the author of the recently published “The Burlesque Handbook: A Backstage Guide.”

Sunday, September 5th @ 2:30PM - Free
Feminist Book Club: Jardins’ “Madame Curie Complex”
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 “The Madame Curie Complex” by Julie Des Jardins.

Monday, September 6th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Lucy Jane Bledsoe “The Big Bang Symphony”
With glaciers shrinking and homes unraveling, the novel “The Big Bang Symphony” is a timely tale of three women working in Antarctica - a galley cook, a climate change geologist, and a composer working on a symphony about the Big Bang. Please join novelist and activist Lucy Jane Bledsoe for a reading of her book about unlikely love, trouble, and binding kinship. Bledsoe is an award-winning novelist whose work focuses on environmental and LGBT issues.

Friday, September 10th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Holly Kearl “Stop Street Harassment”
With Emily May, Oraia Reid and Joanne Smith
Whistling, explicit commentary, groping, and stalking… the pervasiveness of street harassment is alarming: 80% of women experience gender-based harassment from unknown men in public. Join Holly Kearl for a reading and discussion of her book “Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women.” Additionally, hear from the founders of HollaBack, RightRides, and Girls for Gender Equity about their projects and get involved!

Saturday, September 11th @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Discussion: Jordan Flaherty “Community and Resistance”
With Jesse Muhammad and Victoria Law
Oil soaks the Gulf Coast. Nooses hang in Jena, Louisiana. And you dear reader, what are you experiencing? Come out for a night of community and resistance with folks working across a range of issues, including health care, education, criminal justice, and housing. Flaherty will lead a discussion about intersecting our struggles and making use of independent media. Jordan Flaherty is the editor of “Left Turn Magazine” and author of the just published book “Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six.” Victoria Law is a photographer, activist, and author of the book “Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women.” Jesse Muhammad is a social media strategist and a writer for “The Final Call” newspaper.

Sunday, September 12th @ 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 bring an article or an excerpt to contribute. Please contact stina@riseup.net for more information.

Monday, September 13th @ 7PM - Free
Reading: Jeff Conant “A Poetics of Resistance”
As the first postmodern revolution, the Zapatistas have provided the world with a complex web of propaganda: colorful communiqués by Subcomandante Marcos, ski masks, uniforms, dolls, murals, songs, and weapons both symbolic and real. Join Jeff Conant for a reading and discussion of “A Poetics of Resistance: The Revolutionary Public Relations of the Zapatista Insurgency,” and learn the useful strategies employed by the Zapatistas in building their public image.

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