The Montauk Club is pleased to announce an evening celebrating literature as part of our new reading series, No Book Jackets Required. Featuring authors Nelson George and Jessica Hagedorn and curated by James Hannaham, the event is produced in partnership with Ringshout and the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. The reading will take place at 8 PM, Wednesday, June 23, 2010, in the historic 120 year-old Ballroom at the Montauk Club, 25 Eighth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn (adjacent to Grand Army Plaza). Authors will read from recent work, followed by a panel discussion with a cocktail hour and tour of the club’s landmark building afterward.

The ticket price is free to club members and $5 for non-members; drink tickets for cocktails, wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks can be purchased. Seating is limited: please RSVP by June 20, 2010 to manager@montaukclub.com.

The Montauk Club is a historic landmark in Park Slope, Brooklyn, designed by architect Francis H. Kimball in a unique combination of Venetian Gothic and Native American motifs. Its splendid interiors are host to a diverse number of cultural programs, including arts events, wine tastings, concerts and film screenings. We are glad to host this evening showcasing some of America’s most exciting contemporary voices in fiction and culture. We hope you can join us!

Notes on Readers:

Nelson George is an author/filmmaker who has dedicated his life to documenting African-American culture. His latest books are Thriller: The Musical Life of Michael Jackson and the paperback of his memoir City Kid. Among his award winning non-fiction efforts are Where Did Our Love Go: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound, The Death of Rhythm & Bluesand Hip Hop America. He has written several novels, including the best seller One Woman Short. As a filmmaker he directed and wrote Life Support, starring Queen Latifah, for HBO and produced the documentary Good Hair for host Chris Rock. He’s executive produced American Gangster for BET, Soul Cities for VH1 Soul, and Hip Hop Honors for VH1. Currently George is travel editor at large for the American Airlines travel site BlackAtlas.com. He can be contacted at nelsondgeorge.net.

Jessica Hagedorn was born and raised in the Philippines and came to the United States in her early teens. Her novels include Dream Jungle, The Gangster Of Love, andDogeaters, which was nominated for a National Book Award. She is also the author of Danger And Beauty, a collection of poetry and prose, and the editor of Charlie Chan Is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction. Plays include Most Wanted, The Heaven Trilogy, and the stage adaptation of Dogeaters. Her new novel,Toxicology, is forthcoming from Viking Penguin in 2011.

Notes on Curator:

James Hannaham’s first novel, God Says No, published by McSweeney’s Rectangulars in 2009, was named an honor book by the American Library Association’s Stonewall Book Awards, a finalist for a Lambda Book Award and a semi-finalist for a VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. His stories have appeared in The Literary Review, Open City, Nerve, One Story, and several anthologies. His criticism and journalism have appeared in The Village Voice, Spin, Us, Out, and Salon.com, where he was once on staff, and have been reprinted in Best African American Essays 2009 and Best Sex Writing 2009. He teaches creative writing at the Pratt Institute and the New School.

@ Montauk Club
25 Eighth Avenue
Grand Army Plaza
Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY