To Do Thursday: By BK

Elise Knutsen — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:32:45 -0400

O.K., fine, we give up. Our Manhattancentric self has been forced to face the borough music, albeit begrudgingly. While we haven’t left our beloved island in two decades (except for other islands), we hear (fear?) that Brooklyn has become something of a literary hub these days. But, naturally, the issue boils down to pedigree. Can Brooklyn’s lit history hold a candle to notable narrative of belles-lettres in New York proper? Tonight we’ll judge for ourself, with a lecture from author and Brooklyn champion Evan Hughes. We’ll hear tales about Walt Whitman’s Fort Greene home (yes it’s true, those leaves of grass were conceived in lowly Brooklyn), Henry Miller’s formative years in Williamsburg (an era of prehipster hip) and Truman Capote’s Willow Street abode. Perhaps Brooklyn does indeed deserve a nod for helping to cultivate the nation’s collective literary consciousness. Then again, it’s also where Jonathan Safran Foer lives. So, no sale.

“Literary Brooklyn: The Writers of Brooklyn and the Story of American City Life,” with Evan Hughes. Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Avenue, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Observer » To Do Thursday: By BK

To Do Thursday: By BK