Franklin Park Reading Series

06/10/2026

This week we're celebrating the release of June 22 Franklin Park Reading Series star Camille Perri's incredible new novel Social Animals! Get set for her appearance with this eye-opening interview at CrimeReads:

Camille Perri is the author of The Assistants and When Katie Met Cassidy. She has worked as a books editor for Cosmopolitan and Esquire. She has also been a ghostwriter of young adult novels and a …

06/08/2026

“Some people just have It. The air sparkles around them.” We love Khaholi Bailey’s recap at Zona Motel of our May 11 event and her descriptions of our dazzling readers Xochitl Gonzalez, Emily Nemens, Monika Ostrowska, Zach Powers, Kim Samek, and Kevin Sampsell! Mega thanks to Khaholi and Zona’s impresarios Juliet Escoria and Mesha Maren for capturing our vibe!

Some people just have It. The air sparkles around them.

06/04/2026

More pics from our smash May event at Franklin Park featuring Xochitl Gonzalez, Emily Nemens (whose book fashion is superb), Monika Ostrowska, Zach Powers, Kim Samek, and Kevin Sampsell: awesome bookseller Arley from Unnameable Books; performance pics of our superstar readers; our friends and incredible lit citizens Jackie Corley, Sara Lippmann, and Brian Gresko; authors bringing out their support teams, including friends old and new and publicist extraordinaire Peter Dyer; a happy raffle winner; and the world’s best bar crew—Evan, Ramsey, and Hope!

05/14/2026

We had a blast on Monday, hearing new poetry and fiction from phenomenal authors Xochitl Gonzalez, Emily Nemens, Monika Ostrowska, Zach Powers, Kim Samek, and Kevin Sampsell about pivotal moments and memorable characters—plastic eating lovers, a sloppy wedding speech, an awkward funeral, a mishap at the Met, agonizing breakups, a frustrating doctor’s visit, and more.

Huge thanks to our readers and our super enthusiastic audience, who packed the house!

Major gratitude to publishers Flatiron Books, Tin House, Coffee House Press, Jackleg Press, The Dial Press, and Impeller Press and to Arley and our indie bookseller Unnameable Books!

And our great appreciation to Franklin Park's generous owners, awesome managers Alaina and Zach, and the bar’s dedicated staff!

🗓️Save the date for our next event on June 8!

05/11/2026

Monday at the Franklin Park Reading Series: Come celebrate Short Story Month with us! We're thrilled to feature O. Henry Prize Stories winner Kim Samek, author of the acclaimed debut story collection I Am the Ghost Here! Read the title story at Guernica:

I don’t believe that I will ever like Michelle, even though I love who she is when she is my brother. I want to accept the arrangement, but I am still having trouble processing the fact that the person I rely on is not him.

05/07/2026

Get set for Emily Nemens’s appearance this Monday at the Franklin Park Reading Series with this great excerpt from gher new novel Clutch:

Read an excerpt from the acclaimed new novel by author Emily Nemens, Clutch.

05/04/2026

TONIGHT, 7PM, at the Crown Inn in Crown Heights: We're launching a new backyard reading series, the Crown Inn Reading Series, now through October, with an Emerging Writers Night every First Monday. On Thirrd Mondays we'll be hosting a Poets Night. Tonight, come through for readings by rising stars Deirdre Coyle, J.T. Price, and Wil Turner and featured authors Melissa Lozada-Oliva and Sasha Fletcher, plus drink specials and custom cocktails!

Cohosted by author Khaholi Bailey and Crown Inn owner Zhenya Kampanets.