Readings/Seminars

Literary Readings

I’ve read my fiction and essays at a few curated reading series around New York City:

10.04.15 Gallery 440, Brooklyn

10.04.14 Molasses Books, Brooklyn

12.03.13 Drink. Think. Reading Series

01.24.13 Drunken Boat #16 launch, Asian American Writers Workshop

06.15.11 Drink. Think. Reading Series

03.01.11 Drink. Think. Reading Series

10.23.08 KGB Bar Reading Series

02.14.08 Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood Reading Series, Happy Ending Lounge

10.23.07 Sunday Salon Reading Series, The Stain Bar

06.09.07 Bronx Council on the Arts Chapter One Reading Series, Bronx Library Center (AUDIO)

12.06.03 NO EXIT Reading Series, TIXE (chashama) artspace

PANELS

04.11.15 “Yes, Writing is a Job: People Who Get Paid to Write.” 2015 AWP Conference in Minneapolis.

02.13.10 “Potent Potables.” I spoke on a beverage-writing panel moderated by Kara Newman, with Alice Feiring and Alan Kropf at The Roger Smith Food Writers’ Conference in NYC (VIDEO)

THE “CLASSIC COCKTAILS, CLASSIC FILM” SERIES

My story: I’ve been an old movie lover since I was eleven, when I first started watching “Saturday Night at the Movies” with Elwy Yost on TVOntario in Canada, where I grew up. A re-watching of The Thin Man (1934) a decade or so later sparked what would turn out to be a longstanding interest in cocktails. It was the mention of a mysterious drink called the Bronx that first piqued my curiosity. (If it piques yours, I can now tell you it’s a mixture of gin, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, and orange juice.)

Fast forward another 15 years or so, and I finally found a way to combine these two hedonistic interests: I began to write a weekly column on food and drink in film, The Celluloid Pantry, for Apartment Therapy: The Kitchn. There I covered some of my all-time favorite eating and drinking – and cooking – moments: The Dude mixing White Russians in The Big Lebowski, Paulie prepping garlic with a razor blade in Goodfellas, and James Bond ordering a Sazerac in Live and Let Die. When, two years and over 100 films later, I felt I’d finally run the gamut, I shifted gears and became the site’s cocktails and spirits columnist.

In 2009 I began taking the show on the road, so to speak, stepping away from my desk (and DVD player and home bar) to present two-hour evening workshops featuring clips, commentary – and, of course, cocktails:

01.06.12 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film: NY Nightlife (Astor Center, NY)

10.21.11 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (FilmColumbia Festival, Chatham, NY)

09.16.11 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (Astor Center, NYC)

05.15.11 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film: NY Nightlife (Manhattan Cocktail Classic)

04.15.11 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (Astor Center, NYC)

01.07.11 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (Astor Center, NYC)

12.03.10 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film: NY Nightlife (Astor Center, NYC)

10.23.10 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (FilmColumbia Festival, Chatham, NY)

09.17.10 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (Astor Center, NYC)

08.25.10 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film: Whiskey (Astor Center, NYC)

06.10.10 Summer Cocktails in Film (Astor Center, NYC)

05.07.10 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (Astor Center, NYC)

03.05.10 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (Astor Center, NYC)

11.06.09 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (Astor Center, NYC)

07.24.09 Classic Cocktails, Classic Film (Astor Center, NYC)