Can I just first say how much I love Bushwick Daily (our unofficial sister blog) and its founder Katarina Hybenova (amazing woman) and how stoked I was to find out she was co-publishing a book with Catopolis called Bushwick Nightz – short stories about Bushwick. I am proud to be holding a physical copy of this book in my hands and am excited to let you know the book launch is happening tonight at Lot 45 (411 Troutman St.) at 7pm. Tickets: $10 (includes a book) at the door and the first 75 peeps get a free glass of champagne.
As I chatted with Kat about the book, what I found most interesting is that the 12 stories from the 10 Bushwick authors chosen by Editor Dallas Anthent, represent all walks of life – immigrants, the born and raised and the newbie “hipster” types and that the birthplace of the book was at Mellow Pages Library – a local writer hangout.
Authors in the book include: Dallas Athent; Nathaniel Kressen; Prospero Vega; John Jarzemsky; Jacob Perkins; Zachary Fischer; Waldina Olivera; Daniel Ryan Adler; Jae Matthews; and Matt Nelson.
Described as “brutal and completely self-aware,” Kat added they are “emotional stories that turn your gut – real and raw.”
The opening scene Waldina Olivera’s story Finding My Way Back, aside from compelling me to read on, is so New York in that everything changes while some things always stay the same:
We moved to Bushwick in the summer of 1984. I was eight years old. That was the year Prince’s When Doves Cry and Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got to Do With It seem to play non-stop loop on the radio. Coming from the Lower East Side to Bushwick was like moving to a foreign country. Wait, that’s not that accurate. A foreign country would have been a whole heck of a lot easier to swallow … In my new neighborhood, kids hung out of windows and yelled at each other. In fact, everyone yelled all the time … No one knew the term “inside voice in Bushwick in 1984. That was for sure.
I can’t wait to get through all of these stories. Support your local writers and grab yourself a copy either tonight or you can order it online and read it digitally or on paper. Even Strand carries it! Big time…