ON STAGE: Experience SpeakEasy’s programs via YouTube, livestream & podcast. Sign up for updates about future shows here.
IN SCHOOLS: If you are an educator or know someone who works with teens, please invite them to join our Teacher Network here.
ON THE STREETS: Our Bookmobile delivers free books to “book deserts” in New York City and beyond. Want to partner? Get in touch!
ON THE STREETS: The SpeakEasy Bookmobile
The SpeakEasy Bookmobile is on the streets of New York City throughout the fall! We are working with the New York City Housing Authority and the Department of Transportation and to deliver free books and provide safe and socially distanced outdoor events in The Bronx, Washington Heights, East Harlem, Queens, and Brooklyn. Follow us on Instagram for our latest schedule. Swing by, say hello, grab a free book of your choice. We’ll provide all the hand sanitizer you need! Special thanks to Brooklyn Book Bodega for their support.
Watch a short video above about the impact our Bookmobile is having during the pandemic. And don’t miss The SpeakEasy Bookmobile in action this fall on one or all the following days:
- September 18: Bronx River Arts Center with ArtsConnection
- September 22: Fordham Plaza, The Bronx*
- September 26: Back to School in Bed-Stuy at READ 718
- September 29: La Plaza de las Americas, Washington Heights*
- October 3: Brooklyn Book Festival, downtown Brooklyn
- October 6: Fordham Plaza, The Bronx
- October 13: Osborn Plaza, Brownsville, Brooklyn*
- October 20: Fordham Plaza, The Bronx*
- October 23: Open Streets, 31st Ave. & 34th Street, Astoria, Queens*
- October 27: La Plaza de las Americas, Washington Heights*
- November 3: Fordham Plaza, The Bronx*
- November 6: Harvest Festival w/ DreamYard in The Bronx
- November 7: Open Streets, Woodhaven Business Improvement District, Queens*
- November 10: Osborn Plaza, Brownsville, Brooklyn*
- November 13: Children’s Book Week, The Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn
- November 17: Fordham Plaza, The Bronx*
- November 20: Open Streets, 31st Ave. Open Street, Astoria, Queens*
*In partnership with the NYC Department of Transportation an Open Streets Initiative
SERIOUSLY ENTERTAINING: I Scream, You Scream, May 25, 7pm ET — Rewatch Here
To purchase copies of performing authors’ books, visit our Bookshop.org storefront.
The SpeakEasy Podcast: “Can You Hear Me Now?”
Featuring: Jason Reynolds, Kashana Cauley & James Forman, Jr.
As our country reckons with its history of systemic racism and calls for police reform, House of SpeakEasy seeks to examine injustice, intolerance, and inequity by amplifying the voices of Black writers who have performed on stage for us.
SpeakTogether Student Matinee
“Kids need to know how much you care before they care about how much you know.” Torrey Maldonado, who performed for SpeakEasy’s Seriously Entertaining stage at Joe’s Pub in fall 2019, led a series of afterschool workshops for teens at Union Settlement’s College Readiness program in East Harlem, part of SpeakEasy’s SpeakTogether program in the schools. Watch a short video with him about the magic of storytelling.
Virtual Poetry Showcase
This past June, SpeakEasy coordinated a poetry workshop with poet Sheri Booker, who worked with 10th-graders to develop their voices and perform their creative works. The students’ final poems became instant artifacts of a pivotal time in our culture, and the collection is a testament to the vision, creativity, and resilience of these students and their teacher.
Read their individual poems and listen to recordings of them reciting their stellar works here.
The SpeakEasy Storefront on Bookshop.org
House is SpeakEasy is proud to participate in the #BlackoutBestsellerList & #BlackPublishingPower campaigns by highlighting books by Black writers, poets, and illustrators, many of whom have participated in our programs. Read more about the campaign here.
Visit our storefront on Bookshop.org to view the list of titles by past and upcoming SpeakEasy performers.
The SpeakEasy Bookmobile has executed weekly book pop-ups across New York City. In partnership with NYC’s Greenmarkets and the Department of Transportation, our monthly visits to Fordham Plaza in The Bronx, Corona Plaza in Queens, and Myrtle-Wykoff in Brooklyn have allowed us to put hundreds of books into the hands of readers.
Check out some of the most popular titles on Bookshop.org and purchase your own copies to help support our work in the streets!