Tag Archives: Word Up Community Bookshop

Word Up: 10 Years on Amsterdam Anniversary Fiesta!

Saturday, July 29, 2023 – 3:00pm to 6:00pm
Word Up Community Bookshop Librería Comunitaria
2113 Amsterdam Avenue
New YorkNY 10032

 

Word Up is celebrating 10 years on Amsterdam on Saturday, July 29, 2023 from 3-6pm with a fun day of giving away books, t-shirt screen printing, and the usual fan-fare of music, food, and raffles!

For the screen printing, please bring your own t-shirt (or plain fabric item) to print with local artist and collective member Reynaldo García Pantaleon.

Rising in the Heights with Rachael Harrington

Wednesday, June 21, 2023 – 5:00pm to 6:00pm
Word Up Community Bookshop Librería Comunitaria
2113 Amstedam Ave.
New YorkNY 10032

SUGGESTED DONATION

Rising in the Heights is a festival of free monthly outdoor public arts performances curated by Leadlights Ensemble in partnership with Word Up Community Bookshop. The festival celebrates the rich artistic contributions of Latinx and Black cultures and promotes children’s literacy through music and storytelling.

Storyteller Rachael Harrington returns to Rising in the Heights for the second year, featuring Russian folk tales and New York City Ballet dancer Misty Copeland’s picture book The Firebird, with musical performance by Leadlights Ensemble. The first 10 families will receive a free copy of the featured book, and gifts and giveaways from Native Noodles and Drip Sweat will be raffled!

A special thank you to our sponsor Drip Sweat for their support of “Rising in the Heights” providing juice samples and raffling class passes at this event. @dripsweatny

Rachael Harrington is a storyteller who performs traditional and personal stories in arts venues, schools, festivals, museums, as a guest lecturer at Rutgers University, and in collaboration with companies such as Salesforce. Presenter: The American Library Association, National Storytelling Network Summit, NJ Association of School Libraries, NJ Education Association. Publications: Storytelling Magazine, School Library Connection, Voices: Journal of NJ TESOL. Performance Highlights: The Story Center at The Mid-Continent Public Library, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling, New Jersey Storytelling Festival. Member: The National Storytelling Network, North East Storytelling. www.rachaelharrington.com

Firebird By Misty Copeland, Christopher Myers (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Misty CopelandChristopher Myers (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780399166150
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers – September 4th, 2014

BOOK LAUNCH: Last Call at Coogan’s by Jon Michaud with Peter Walsh

Saturday, June 10, 2023 – 4:00pm to 6:00pm
RECIRCULATION A project of Word Up
876 Riverside Drive (near 160th St.)
New YorkNY 10032

 

register

Join Word Up in celebrating the launch of Last Call at Coogan’s: The Life and Death of a Neighborhood Bar about the uniquely inspiring story of a beloved neighborhood bar that united the communities it served. Author Jon Michaud will be in conversation with Coogan’s former owner Peter Walsh to share stories and images about the Washington Heights staple. The conversation will be held at Recirculation, a project of Word Up, with a Q&A and signing to follow.

“Michaud biographizes the alehouse with both objectivity and heart, welcoming the reader into this space where a starry-eyed motley crew of business partners managed to rise above the area’s addiction and disease to make community.”

—Kia Corthron, author of Moon and the Mars

This event is a $5 suggested donation ticket with 100 max attendees. Please register in advance. 

Recirculation, a project of Word Up Community Bookshop, is located at 876 Riverside Drive (near 160th St.) in Washington Heights, NYC. You can take the 1 train to 157th St., A/C train to 163rd St., and the M4 and M5 to Broadway and 159/160th.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Coogan’s Bar and Restaurant opened in New York City’s Washington Heights in 1985 and closed its doors for good in the pandemic spring of 2020. Sometimes called Uptown City Hall, it became a staple of neighborhood life during its 35 years in operation—a place of safety and a bulwark against prejudice in a multi-ethnic, majority-immigrant community undergoing rapid change.

Last Call at Coogan’s by Jon Michaud tells the story of this beloved saloon, from the challenging years of the late 80’s and early 90’s, when Washington Heights suffered from the highest crime rate in the city, to the 2010’s, when gentrification pushed out longtime residents and nearly closed Coogan’s itself; only a massive community mobilization including local politicians and Lin-Manuel Miranda kept the doors open.

This book touches on many serious issues facing the country today: race relations, policing, gentrification, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Along the way, readers will meet the bar’s owners and an array of its most colorful regulars, such as an aspiring actor from Kentucky who dreams of bringing a theater company to Washington Heights, a television reporter who loves karaoke, and a Puerto Rican community board manager who falls in love with an Irish cop from the local precinct. At its core, this is the story of one small business, the people who worked there, the customers they served, and the community they all called home.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Jon Michaud is the Collection Management Librarian at the Millburn Free Public Library. His debut novel When Tito Loved Clara (Algonquin) was named a best book of the year by The Barnes & Noble Review and was a finalist for the Writer’s Center First Novel Prize. Michaud was the head librarian at The New Yorker from 2003-2012 and the head librarian at the Center for Fiction from 2015-2017. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Tin House, LitHub, CrimeReads, and numerous other publications. The recipient of a 2022 fellowship from the New Jersey Council on the Arts, Michaud lives in Maplewood, NJ with his wife and two sons. An American citizen, he was nonetheless the Irish junior javelin champion in 1983.

Peter Mallon Walsh is the former owner of the legendary New York City watering hole Coogans’s. He has a degree in history from Marist College and a Diploma in Anglo-Irish Literature from Trinity, Dublin. He has attended Queen Mary College and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and served in the US Army with the 7th Psychological Operations.. His book 12 Passports And A Stowaway is a collection of poetry from expats living in Ireland. Married to Suzanne Clifton Walsh, he is the father of Conor, Alice, and Dana and resides in Water Mill, New York. Currently he performs spoken word with the Hamptons Jazz Festival and provides historical research for the Bridgehampton Museum.


WORD UP COMMUNITY SAFETY GUIDELINES

CANCELLATION POLICY: Word Up Community Bookshop reserves the right to cancel events for any reason, including but not limited to safety concerns.

CODE OF CONDUCT: Please note Word Up has a zero tolerance policy for harassment or intimidation of any kind during any event, virtual or in-person. Please read our Safe Space Policy for more information. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from the event at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to events@wordupbooks.com immediately.

PHOTOS & RECORDING: Events may be recorded, and video and photos may be posted on our website, social media, and elsewhere. If you would prefer not to be visible, please let a Word Up team member know.

PRIVACY: Registrants will be added to the Word Up mailing list. Your contact information will never be shared or sold. You may unsubscribe or update your subscription at any time.

ACCESSIBILITY: Recirculation is a wheelchair-accessible space with one ramp from the street level down to the store. Most of the shelves are on wheels and can be moved to provide additional access. The bathrooms are not yet ADA compliant and do not yet have a changing table but are gender neutral. The events are mic’d for sound and videos are captioned when possible. Free ASL interpretation is available for most programs upon request. Please email events@wordupbooks.com to request interpretation as early as possible. If you have specific questions about the space or how an event can be made more accessible to you, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@wordupbooks.com.

Last Call at Coogan's: The Life and Death of a Neighborhood Bar By Jon Michaud Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9781250221780
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: St. Martin’s Press – June 6th, 2023

NoName @ WordUp: Super Story Party

Each No Name show @ the wonderful Word Up bookshop features a mix of some of NYCs best comics, storytellers, and more.

We have returned to our live, in person shows with some Super Story Party editions! This means some of New York’s best storytellers doing their thing uptown! Plus, you can drop your name in the hat, and if your name is drawn, you’ll receive 5 minutes of stage time. There will be trivia, stories, and even a dance break!

Eric Vetter is the MC
Michele Carlo is the co-host
Music provided by Miles Blue Spruce
Scheduled guests for Tuesday May 9th:
Leslie Goshko
Adam Selbst
Asher Novek
Jenny Saldana
& more
And…YOU!

When- TUESDAY, May 9th
Where- WORD UP! bookshop
2113 Amsterdam Ave (corner of 165th St)
Showtime- 7:00 pm
Admission- FREE!!
By subway- A, C, or 1 train to 168th St
(walk down to 165th St, turn left, walk to
Amsterdam)