Past Events
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Saturday, December 9, 2023 - 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM | Special Event | First floor | open to the public | $65 per custom portrait | reservations required for custom portraitsArtist and Library member Christina Ruggieri will be on hand to sketch a custom portrait of your or a loved one’s dog - the perfect holiday gift. 100% of proceeds benefit the Library. Reservations are required for custom portraits, but all are welcome to drop by to see the process of creation, enter a raffle for prizes, and get inspired to create their own art! (All portrait slots are now full.)
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Special Event | Members' Room | by invitation onlyIf you're new, this party's for you.
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Special Event | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredThree of today's top mystery writers – Danielle Arceneaux, S.J. Rozan, and Paul Vidich - discuss their newest books and converse together about the writing process and the state of the modern mystery field.
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Special Event | Livestream | open to the public | $10 per person | registration requiredThree of today's top mystery writers – Danielle Arceneaux, S.J. Rozan, and Paul Vidich - discuss their newest books and converse together about the writing process and the state of the modern mystery field.
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023 - 5:00 PM | Children | For members and guests | For grades 3-12 | $15 per poet | Registration required
Explore contemporary poetry with Dave Johnson as you learn how writers turn their ideas into poems, gain the inspiration and knowledge to craft your own poetry, and share your writing with others. Snacks will be provided!
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Sunday, October 1, 2023 - 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM | Sunday, November 5, 2023 - 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM | Sunday, December 3, 2023 - 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM | Sunday, January 7, 2024 - 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM | Sunday, February 4, 2024 - 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM | Sunday, March 3, 2024 - 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members and their guests | free of charge | registration requiredWe gather monthly to read aloud a play by William Shakespeare in the company of Columbia University lecturer and Library trustee Emily Madison.
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Saturday, December 2, 2023 - 3:00 PM | Special Event | Members' Room | Open to the public | For grades 6+ | Free of charge | Registration requiredCalling all fans of Hamilton and Bridgerton!
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Thursday, November 30, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredA revolutionary guide to flourishing in times of flux and angst by harnessing the overlooked power of our uncertainty, from the award-winning journalist and author of DISTRACTED.
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Thursday, November 30, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Livestream | open to the public | $10 per person | registration requiredA revolutionary guide to flourishing in times of flux and angst by harnessing the overlooked power of our uncertainty, from the award-winning journalist and author of DISTRACTED.
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Wednesday, September 27, 2023 - 11:00 AM | Wednesday, October 25, 2023 - 11:00 AM | Wednesday, November 29, 2023 - 11:00 AM | Wednesday, January 31, 2024 - 11:00 AM | Wednesday, February 28, 2024 - 11:00 AM | Wednesday, March 27, 2024 - 11:00 AM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | $100 for the six sessions | registration required“Never say you know the last word about any human heart.” That’s one of the great sentences of this great writer, Henry James (1843-1916). In this seminar – which welcomes both experienced readers of James and novices – we discover many more.
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Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredVladimir Putin's first invasion of Ukraine, in 2014, set off a global economic clash, as the West used its clout with international markets to deter and penalize the Kremlin. This startling new book by Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow Maximilian Hess lifts the lid on Russia's response to Western sanctions and the resulting conflicts over finance, energy, and capital markets.
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Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Online | open to the public | $10 per person | registration requiredVladimir Putin's first invasion of Ukraine, in 2014, set off a global economic clash, as the West used its clout with international markets to deter and penalize the Kremlin. This startling new book by Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow Maximilian Hess lifts the lid on Russia's response to Western sanctions and the resulting conflicts over finance, energy, and capital markets.
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Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 3:30 PM | The Writing Life | Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | registration required
The founder of the Columbia Fiction Foundry discusses the components of the query letter (for fiction) and the proposal letter (for nonfiction), centering on why that agent was selected and how the author’s project compares with the agent&rs
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Thursday, November 16, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredIt's the case of Amanda's lifetime, but solving it will require her to betray another spy - who just so happens to be her father. In this special publication-week event, Anna Pitoniak discusses her globe-trotting new spy thriller with bestselling novelist Cristina Alger.
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Thursday, November 16, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Livestream | open to the public | $10 per person | registration requiredIt's the case of Amanda's lifetime, but solving it will require her to betray another spy - who just so happens to be her father. In this special publication-week event, Anna Pitoniak discusses her globe-trotting new spy thriller with bestselling novelist Cristina Alger.
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Thursday, November 16, 2023 - 6:00 PM | The Writing Life | Zoom | for members only | free of charge | registration requiredBooks Walter Bode edited have won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this seminar, he’ll help writers find the most effective words and make the best use of them – based on participants’ own writing samples.
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Tuesday, November 14, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Livestream | open to the public | $10 per person | registration requiredA tender biography of one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century and an elegant exploration of artistic endurance, as told by a lifelong lover of Willa Cather’s work.
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Tuesday, November 14, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredA tender biography of one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century and an elegant exploration of artistic endurance, as told by a lifelong lover of Willa Cather’s work.
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Sunday, November 12, 2023 - 3:00 PM | Children | Recommended for ages 3 and Older | Open to the public | $10 per child | Registration requiredJoin us for an afternoon of captivating tales from around the world that celebrate this season of thanksgiving and gratitude. Audience participation is encouraged!
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Thursday, October 5, 2023 - 11:00 AM | Thursday, November 9, 2023 - 11:00 AM | Thursday, December 14, 2023 - 11:00 AM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | $75 per person | registration requiredMagda Szabó (1917-2007) is the most famous and most translated Hungarian novelist. This seminar discusses three of her best-known novels spanning 1963 to 1987.
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Wednesday, November 8, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredA memoir of an extraordinary life—from a poet, international human rights activist, founding member of Amnesty International USA, journalist, hostess, famous beauty, foreign policy advisor; friend to politicians, movie stars, the legendary; discoverer of Philip Roth, longtime wife of Bill Styron and half of America’s literary golden couple at home and abroad. “[Rose Styron] has lived a life in interesting times, among legendary characters, a life well worth telling—and reading about.” —The Washington Post
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Wednesday, November 8, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Online | open to the public | $10 per person | registration requiredA memoir of an extraordinary life—from a poet, international human rights activist, founding member of Amnesty International USA, journalist, hostess, famous beauty, foreign policy advisor; friend to politicians, movie stars, the legendary; discoverer of Philip Roth, longtime wife of Bill Styron and half of America’s literary golden couple at home and abroad. “[Rose Styron] has lived a life in interesting times, among legendary characters, a life well worth telling—and reading about.” —The Washington Post
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Tuesday, November 7, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Reading Group | Zoom | open to the public | $75 per person | registration requiredThis seminar has been postponed. In this three-session seminar, we will read three multi-perspective novels, exploring how each author builds their story using the voices and/or perspectives of multiple characters. Participants will also have the opportunity to practice crafting their own multi-perspective stories.
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Tuesday, November 7, 2023 - 11:30 AM | Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - 11:30 AM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | $50 for the two sessions | registration requiredHomer's Odyssey plays against the Iliad's siege of Troy. Ten years later, Troy has been destroyed, Helen rescued, but Odysseus is not home. In 24 books or chapters, the epic poet tells us his tale of exile.
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Monday, November 6, 2023 - 2:00 PM | The Writing Life | Whitridge Room | for members and their guests | free of charge | registration requiredIn this special event, join writer and teacher Esther Cohen for a workshop and party celebrating her new book All of Us: Stories and Poems Along Route 17. All writers are invited to add your US to this story.
