All-day literary celebration featuring the newly commissioned short stories brought to life by acclaimed actors, musicians, dancers, artists, and filmmakers.
Readings by Cynthia Nixon, Kelli O'Hara, Mike Doyle, Krystina Alabado, Joan Allen, Purva Bedi, Tony Shalhoub, Becca Blackwell, Deborah S. Craig, Kathleen Chalfant, David Cross, Crystal Dickinson, Santino Fontana and many more.
Schedule:
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Love blooms atop apartment scaffolding. A father-son duo find purpose aboard a bakery on wheels. And a private eye fulfills an unexpected request. Host Patricia Kalember introducing new fiction by Jenny Allen, Patrick Dacey, Helen Phillips, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Jess Walter, performed by Javier Munoz, and more. Small Odysseys editor Hannah Tinti makes remarks, and choreographer Heidi Latsky embodies Helen Phillips's story "The Double Life of the Cockroach's Wife" in dance.
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Host Meg Wolitzer takes the stage to introduce new fiction by Lesley Nneka Arimah, Marie-Helene Bertino, Lauren Groff, Maile Meloy, Joe Meno, and Namwali Serpell. From the languid haze of summer to a possible future of noselessness, these stories traverse worlds both extraordinary and familiar, and actors Krystina Alabado, Joan Allen, Kathleen Chalfant, Deborah S. Craig, Zach Grenier, Zainab Jah, Kelli O'Hara, Calvin Leon Smith, and Amber Tamblyn bring these worlds to life. Featuring a short film by Adam Douglas Thompson paying tribute to Joe Meno's "Books You Read" and an original song inspired by Lauren Groff's "Such Small Islands," created and performed by multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Laura Gibson.
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
A married couple constructs a science fair project for their child; an FBI informant cracks a case at the prom; and a unicorn helps a woman cope with her divorce. Shorts regular Jane Kaczmarek steps up to the host mic to present stories from Rabih Alameddine, Elizabeth Crane, Dave Eggers, Susan Perabo, and Simon Rich performed by actors David Cross, Kennedy Kanagawa, Arian Moayed, James Naughton, Michael Shannon, Miriam Shor, and Emily Skeggs; songwriting duo Marcy Heisler & Zina Goldrich reinterpret Elizabeth Crane's unconventional self-help guide "Unicorn Me" in song, performed by Zina Goldrich and Maddie Corman.
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Artificial intelligence. Destructive lies. Life after death, captured in song. Hosted by Santino Fontana, this segment includes stories by Jacob Guajardo, A. M. Homes, Jac Jemc, Lisa Ko, J. Robert Lennon, Juan Martinez, and Rivers Solomon read by Crystal Dickinson, Vanessa Kai, Stephen Lang, Sonia Manzano, TL Thompson, and a literary duet of Jane Kaczmarek and Tony Shalhoub. Featuring original compositions by Lakecia Benjamin and DJ Raydar Ellis, including a piece inspired by Juan Martinez's "Cerati After Cerati" performed by Canteen Killa.
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Parents and their children split up and stick together, a rose-gold iPhone calls the shots, and disasters are chronicled in ads for a cutting-edge touchless bidet. Sonia Manzano hosts this segment, featuring imaginative and insightful stories by Jai Chakrabarti, Patrick Cottrell, Omar El Akkad, Mira Jacob, Victor LaValle, Elizabeth Strout, and Weike Wang brought to life by readers Purva Bedi, Becca Blackwell, Dawn Akemi Saito, and Rita Wolf. This presentation includes an original tap piece choreographed by Leonardo Sandoval and performed by Adriana Ogle, and a musical mashup created by Broadway masters Annette Jolles & Joel Fram performed by stage stars Santino Fontana and Julie Halston.
9:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Cynthia Nixon hosts this segment packed with new fiction from Aimee Bender, Michael Cunningham, Edwidge Danticat, Etgar Keret, Ben Loory, and Carmen Maria Machado performed by Wyatt Cenac, Mike Doyle, Anika Noni Rose, and Liev Schreiber. Persephone party-plans the apocalypse; a husband picks out an out-of-this-world gift for his wife; and an ordinary town plays host to the world's most perfect dandelion. Featuring a short film by illustrator Michael Arthur and an original dance piece from Keigwin & Company.
Proof of full vaccination and BOOSTER shot required. Masks must be worn at all times.