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 returns to the streets of New York City this spring! We are working with the Department of Transportation and the New York City Housing Authority to provide safe and socially distanced events in The Bronx and Bushwick, Brooklyn. Swing by and say hello, select a free book of your choice and get special SpeakEasy schwag like bookmarks and facemasks. We’ll provide all the hand sanitizer you need. Special thanks to Brooklyn Book Bodega for their help. Watch a short video about the impact our Bookmobile is having during the pandemic, and stay tuned for additional dates and partnership programs scheduled for this spring and summer.
Catch The SpeakEasy Bookmobile in action this spring on the following days:
- Fordham Plaza on 5/4
- Myrtle-Wyckoff on 5/5
- Fordham Plaza on 5/18
- Myrtle-Wyckoff on 5/19
- Fordham Plaza on 6/1
- Myrtle-Wyckoff on 6/2
- Fordham Plaza on 6/15
- Myrtle-Wyckoff on 6/16
- Fordham Plaza on 6/29
- Myrtle-Wyckoff on 6/30
- Fordham Plaza on 7/13
- Myrtle-Wyckoff on 7/14
- Fordham Plaza on 7/27
- Myrtle-Wyckoff on 7/28
SERIOUSLY ENTERTAINING: I Scream, You Scream, May 25, 7pm ET — Register Here
Our May edition of “Seriously Entertaining” heralds summer with “I Scream, You Scream.”
Join us on May 25 at 7pm ET to hear stories from award-winning journalist and podcast creator/host Amber Hunt; distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown Nancy Sherman; bestselling and award-winning journalist, food, and travel writer Larry Olmsted; and award-winning debut novelist Gabriela Garcia tied to the theme of the evening.
Register here for the show and purchase copies of each writer’s book in our Bookshop storefront.
Miss any shows from our Spring season of “Seriously Entertaining?”
Visit our show page to view past performances.
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!