31 YEARS OF THE ARTIST’S VOICE
OUT & ABOUT
A TASTE OF HOME: BENEFIT FOR HOUSING WORKS
by Apr 05, 2011
The literary and the culinary scenes come together to benefit Housing Works, a multi-platform charitable organization raising money for homeless people in New York living with HIV.
OUT & ABOUT
EXTEMPORE: FROGMORE NIGHT AT VADIS AND CLAY'S
by May 06, 2011
As part of a new ongoing column, BOMBlog steps out on the town, or into an intimate party, to explore the inner lives and passions of New York City’s artists, writers, and creative professionals, be it food, fashion, or just pop culture. In the first installment, writer Jennifer Rodriguez attends a dinner party hosted by Vadis Turner and Clay Ezell at the couple’s home in Williamsburg.
“Would you rather watch an episode of Mad Men or vintage X-Files?” This was the question that sparked a debate at a recent dinner party hosted by artist Vadis Turner and her husband, Clay Ezell, a literary agent at ICM.
The food was not yet ready, but guests were snacking in the kitchen on Vadis’s homemade artichoke dip. We were trying not to eat too much, because Frogmore Stew was coming, but it was difficult because the dip was tasty. Our mouths found other purpose, however, when the topic of our favorite television shows came up.
The arguments for Mad Men’s involved plot and stylized take on midcentury America were strong; but the blind love for David Duchovny among the women tilted things, causing no small amount of eye-rolling among the men. Stalemate loomed when rowdy footsteps in the stairwell, accompanied by slightly tipsy laughter, staved off resolution for another day.
OUT & ABOUT
SWEET: ACTORS READING WRITERS
by Jan 21, 2011
Jennifer Rodriguez reports on the “Sweet: Actors Reading Writers” series and its founders’ innovative, and highly entertaining, approach to live fiction performance.
OUT & ABOUT
EXTEMPORE: ELISSA SCHAPPELL'S BOOK RELEASE PARTY
by Sep 22, 2011
Jennifer Rodriguez reports from a cocktail reception for Elissa Schappell’s new book Blueprints for Building Better Girls.
On last Wednesday evening, Vanity Fair Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter hosted a cocktail reception at The Waverly Inn to honor the release of author Elissa Schappell’s Blueprints for Building Better Girls. Schappell is a Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair, and Blueprints is her second short story collection. Schappell and Carter’s friendship dates back to their formative days at the satirical monthly, Spy Magazine.
Carter co-founded Spy in 1986 and gave Schappell her first writing job there. Resplendent in a vintage white satin gown, Schappell reflected on her days at the publication.
“It was an incredible place to work,” she said. “Come on, I was a kid, and here I was at the most influential magazine of the ‘80s!”
“I remember listening to the editors riffing,” she continued. “They were so clever and so fast, one-upping each other and everybody was laughing . . . . ”
OUT & ABOUT
EXTEMPORE: PENTALES
by Jun 22, 2011
As part of a new ongoing column, BOMBlog steps out on the town, or into an intimate party, to explore the inner lives and passions of New York City’s artists, writers, and creative professionals, be it food, fashion, or pop culture. In this installment, writer Jennifer Rodriguez visits the literary salon PenTales and chats with its founders about its success.
It’s been two years since Saskia Miller and Stephanie Hodges founded PenTales. In that time, it has become a quiet phenomenon among New York City’s literary up-and-comers. The PenTales literary salon’s June lineup featured a staff member from the Ace Hotel, a contributor to Vanity Fair, a young Israeli sociologist, an Emmy-winning filmmaker, and a New York City tour guide with an affinity for Brooklyn’s graffiti art. Did I mention there was also a very charismatic porn writer?
This development has been welcome, though completely unplanned. It all started with the “infamous twenty books,” as the girls refer to them.
In 2009, Stephanie and Saskia decided to distribute twenty notebooks among twenty friends, asking each to start a story and then to pass the notebook on to someone outside the circle. It was an experiment. They wanted to see what each multi-authored story would turn out like.
OUT & ABOUT
EXTEMPORE: BEOWULF SHEEHAN
by Jun 07, 2011
As part of a new ongoing column, BOMBlog steps out on the town, or into an intimate party, to explore the inner lives and passions of New York City’s artists, writers, and creative professionals, be it food, fashion, or just pop culture. In this installment, writer Jennifer Rodriguez speaks to photographer Beowulf Sheehan, the man behind the camera for the New York Public Library’s beautiful book Know the Past, Find the Future.
Small candles set in glass flickered on the marble steps leading up to the Schwarzman building on the evening of the New York Public Library Centennial Gala. They comprised the humble yet elegant announcement of the building’s one hundredth birthday party.
The night would play out in witty speeches, a divine dinner, a floral light show, and a live band belting out U2 in the grand Astor Hall for guests drinking beer brewed from George Washington’s own recipe. But, before all that, at the still-calm pre-Gala cocktail hour, I had the pleasure of talking with one very special guest who played an integral role in bringing the Centennial celebration to life. That guest was the photographer Beowulf Sheehan.