Author Archives: beth

Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link is the featured literature this autumn, when Staten Island OutLOUD presents The Big Read in our community for the National Endowment for the Arts! A 2018 MacArthur Fellow, Kelly Link’s work has been described as “pushing the boundaries of literary fiction in works that combine the surreal and fantastical with the concerns and emotional realism of contemporary life.”
Her fascinating short story collection, Pretty Monsters, is a kaleidoscope of magical realism, suspense, and flat-out funny!
Our Pretty Monsters series will run from mid-October to mid-December, with events for adults, teens, kids, and intergenerational fun.
https://www.macfound.org/fellows/1017/

Saturday, August 11, 2pm at Historic Richmond Town, 441 Clarke Ave, SINY 10306.

Staten Island OutLOUD and Historic Richmond Town welcome you to a special event featuring the work of Jacob Riss, 19th century photo-journalist and social activist. Special musical guests: Elle LaForge and Rob Landsman.
Riis’ book broke new ground by combining photography with a compelling narrative about the brutal challenges that working people, especially new Americans, overcame to survive in New York City.
“How the Other Half Lives” helped raise awareness of 19th century urban housing and public health issues. Its publication helped bring about reforms in fire safety, fair housing and child labor laws, among other important reforms.

Saturday, August 4th, 2pm at Tottenville Branch Library, NYPL, 7430 Amboy Road, SINY 10307.

This event is part of the Once City, One Book series taking place throughout NYC this summer.
We’ll explore “Manhattan Beach”, the compelling novel by Jennifer Egan.
Details to come. Free and open to the public

Saturday, July 28, 2016, at 4pm.  At the historic Biddle House, 70 Satterlee St (at Shore Road), SINY 10307.  Free parking on surrounding streets. The Biddle House is located about 500 feet from the corner of Sattlerlee St & Hylan Blvd, past the Conference House.  BRING A LAWNCHAIR!

This event is good for all ages. Our performance will take place rain or shine. Free parking on the surrounding streets.

Staten Island OutLOUD hosts our annual celebration of Herman Melville’s haunting tale of the sea.  Maritime music by the Brass Ensemble of the Staten Island Philharmonic Orchestra. You’ll hear the story of the mystical voyage of the Pequod as it circumnavigated the earth. You’ll meet Ishmael and the crew as they discover Captain Ahab’s mad obsession with the great whale, Moby Dick.

“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul… then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”

The historic Biddle House is an Island architectural treasure. Captain Henry Hogg Biddle, who owned the ferryboat between Tottenville and Perth Amboy, as well as Biddle’s Grove, a summer resort for temperance groups, constructed this house about 1845. It is a rare example in New York of the Greek Revival architectural style, with identical sweeping, sloped rooflines on both facades.

Wednesday, July 4th, 2pm at Fort Wadsworth, Bay St & School Road (enter via the Guard Station, park in the Visitors Center lot & follow the sidewalk to the scenic Harbor Overlook).

Staten Island OutLOUD hosts our annual community reading & conversation on the Declaration of Independence – plus a few surprises. When’s the last time you read it? Good for all ages. Free.

Saturday, June 16th, 7pm – At ETG Book Cafe, 208 Bay St, SINY 10301 (between Victory Blvd & Hannah St, 2 blocks from the Ferry).

Every year on June 16, people around the world gather to celebrate “Bloomsday” – readings from James Joyce’s comic epic Ulysses, considered by many as the first modern novel. From Boston to Beijing, from Paris to Perth, people celebrate Joyce’s classic, a comic chronicle of Dublin life during the course of one day, June 16, 1904.

Staten Island is no exception: Every June 16, OutLOUD hosts riotous readings from James Joyce’s Ulysses. Bloomsday OutLOUD 2018 takes place at ETG Book Cafe, 208 Bay Street, SINY 10301 (between Victory Blvd & Hannah St, 2 blocks from the Ferry), on Saturday, June 16, 7pm. Adults only, please.

Our event will not run late! You’ll enjoy a relaxed gathering, but you’ll get home at a reasonable hour. James Joyce’s colorful characters, a June night, conviviality and a glass of wine – What’s not to love?

Tues, Sept 28, 4pm at Port Richmond Library, 77 Bennett Ave, SINY 10302.

Saturday, April 21st, 2pm at the historic Conference House, 298 Satterlee St (at the end of Hylan Blvd), SINY 10309

Staten Island OutLOUD explores a point in American history, as our sense of justice was formed.  During the Westward Explansion, justice was often swift. Sometimes it was fair, sometimes justice miscarried. How do modern views of the 2nd Amendment reflect those conflicts?  Free & open to the public. Book & bandana giveaway.  This event is part of OutLOUD’s series on Charles Portis’ classic novel “True Grit”, for The Big Read/National Endowment for the Arts.  We’ll gather in the historic Conference House.  Free – Best for ages 10 and up.

Saturday, April 7th, 2pm at the Stapleton Branch Library, 132 Canal St, SINY 10304.

Staten Island OutLOUD presents an afternoon of Cowboy Poetry with our friends at the Stapleton Library, with music of the Old West by Elle La Forge and Rob Landsman. Free & good for all ages.
American cowboy poetry originated in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Cowboys and ranchers swamped stories around the campfire, and started to improvise verse, in somewhat the same way that urban rap originated in the late 20th century.
OutLOUD will share a selection of works by cowboy poets, and anyone who wants to read with us is welcome to join in. Throughout the afternoon, Elle and Rob will share American songs of the Westward Expansion.
Book & bandana giveaway too (while supplies last).

Sunday, March 25th, 2pm at the Alice Austen House Museum, 2 Hylan Blvd, SINY 10305.

Laura Ingalls Wilder entertained generations of children with her Little House series, which was loosely based on her family’s pioneering life. Her memoir, Pioneer Girl, was published in 2014