BKBF Bookend Event 9/23: Crown Heights Lit Night!
About this Event
Three popular Crown Heights series team up for a fun and enlightening evening at famed neighborhood bar the Crown Inn! The Franklin Park Reading Series, World Trans Forum, and the Crown Inn Reading Series host a showcase of fresh poetry and prose from a mix of established and up-and-coming writers: Naima Coster (Take What You Can), Denne Michele Norris (When the Harvest Comes), Misha Holleb (The A–Z of Gender and Sexuality), Simone Reid (Poetry), and Josephine Simple (The New Yorker). Enjoy drink specials, mingle with fellow literary enthusiasts, and get a shot at our readers’ books in our free book raffle!. Free Admission!
Bios:
Naima Coster is a New York Times bestselling author and a recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 honor. Her new novel, Take What You Can, will be published by Viking in August 2026. Her novel, What’s Mine and Yours, was a Read with Jenna pick, a statewide read for One Maryland One Book, longlisted for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, and named a best book of the year by Kirkus Reviews, Esquire, Marie Claire, Ms. Magazine, and more. Her first novel, Halsey Street, was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and named a must-read by People, Essence, Well-Read Black Girl, The Skimm, and the Brooklyn Public Library. Naima’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Time, Kweli, and The Cut, and in numerous anthologies. Naima teaches creative writing at CUNY Baruch College. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Denne Michele Norris is the executive director and publisher of Electric Literature, where she is the first Black, openly trans women to helm a major literary publication. A 2021 Out100 Honoree, her writing has been supported by MacDowell, Tin House, VCCA, and the Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction, and appears in McSweeney’s, American Short Fiction, and ZORA. She co-hosts the critically acclaimed podcast Food 4 Thot, and her debut novel, When the Harvest Comes, was released by Random House in April 2025. Follow her on Twitter and IG @thedennemichele.
Misha Holleb is a Jewish orthodox anarchist, writer, and khazn in Brooklyn. He's worked as a professional transsexual advocate since 2014 and has founded an exorbitant 4 non-profits. His first book—The A–Z of Gender and Sexuality, the first long-form queer glossary—came out in 2019. He writes antizionist Torah commentary and is working on a one act play and a memoir about the time he got conned into loving a dead man. Read more at https://mishaholleb.com.
Simone Reid is a cultural worker from New York. It’s her aim to hijack the written word for our anti-imperialist struggle. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Poetry, Gordon Square Review, Protean Magazine, and elsewhere. She is an MFA candidate in Poetry at NYU, supported by the Lillian Vernon Fellowship.
Josephine Simple is a writer, performer, and transsexual dyke based in Brooklyn. Her shows weave together comedy, dance, and Zen Buddhist practice. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Slate, and Poetry International.
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