Reading Room

Look for the yellow umbrellas on the north side of the park near the 42nd Street plaza.

 Open daily, April to September, 11am-7pm to lend books, magazines, and newspapers for reading in the park.

Reading Room is open to all ages, and kids are welcome!

Find reading material for kids in their own colorful rack or join us for StoryTime.

Follow @bryantparknyc for day-of event updates

Visit our calendar or scroll to the bottom of this page for all upcoming events, including author talks, history panels, writers workshops, and much more!

Select dates in May + June
12:30pm-1:30pm

Thursday, May 7: Hadestown
with Joshua Colley (Orpheus) and Jordan Tyson (Eurydice)

Tuesday, May 12: Death Becomes Her
with Betsy Wolfe (Madeline Ashton)

Tuesday, May 26: Death of a Salesman with Christopher Abbot (Biff Loman) and Ben Ahlers (Happy Loman)

Tuesday, June 2: Titaníque with Constantine Rousouli (Jack Dawson)

May 26: Arden Levine, Chet'la Sebree, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, and Monica Ferrell

June 2: A Celebration of Sonnets with Dora Malech and Phillis Levin

June 9: Anne Marie Macari, Francisco Aragon, Maggie Dietz, and Yanyi

June 16: Poets from Four Way Books with Hannah Matheson

July 7: A Tribute to Robert Hayden with Iain Haley Pollack and Nathan McClain

July 14: J. Brooke, Nicole Santalucia, Phillip Schultz, and R.A. Villanueva

July 21: Adrian Matejka and Elizabeth Scanlon

July 28: Beth Ann Fennelly, David Baker, Maya C. Popa, and Owen Lewis

August 4: David Groff, Kazim Ali, Martha Rhodes, and Richard Smith

August 11: Allison Joseph, Brendan Constantine, Erica Lewis, and Stephen Mills

August 18: Amy Dryansky, Dan Tobin, Ethel Rackin, and Steven Kleinman

August 25: A Tribute to Larry Levis with Deb Allbery and John Skoyles

September 1: A Celebration of Poetry and Healing with Danielle Ofri and Thomas Dooley

September 8: Poets from Sibling Rivalry Press with Bryan Borland

September 15: Chelsea Whitton, Dilruba Ahmed, Matt Yaeger, and Sahar Muradi

May 27, 2026 – August 26, 2026 
Wednesdays, 12:30pm-1:45pm

May 27: Writers Read hosted by Ed McCann

June 3: Memoir with writers Jeffrey Banks, Stefan Merrill Block, and Ian Jarvis

June 10: Seriously Funny with writers Jenny Hagel and Maeve Dunigan

June 17: Masters of Suspense with writers Alison Gaylin, Ed Lin, and Kimberly McCreight

June 24: Summer Picks with writers Hilary Davidson, Connor Martin, and Camille Perri

July 8th: Frankie Grande 

July 15th: Dog Day Reads hosted by Ilana Levine

July 22nd: Panels in the Park hosted by Meg Lemke

July 29th: Speculative Fiction hosted by Lisa Burdige

August 5th: Endless Summer

August 12th: Unputdownable! hosted by Ilana Levine

August 19th: Writing with Purpose with authors Annabelle Gurwitch, Sam Roberts, and Casey Sherman

August 26th: TBA

June 5 – September 11
Fridays, noon-1pm

June 5: Ecological History of NYC with Eric Sanderson - Vice President of the New York Botanic Garden and author of Mannahatta and the upcoming Before New York: The Natural Geography of the City 

June 19: NYC Fungi and Lichens with Wilton Rao - Naturalist and mycology expert with the New York Mycological Society 

July 3: Exploring NYC Wildlife with Ryan Mandelbaum - Author of Wild NYC, science writer, nature educator, and wildlife photographer 

July 17: Native Bees of NYC with Sarah Kornbluth - Invertebrate Zoology Field Associate at the American Museum of Natural History 

July 31: Nature and Humanity with William Bryant Logan - Arborist and author of Oak: The Frame of Civilization; Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of Earth; and Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees 

August 14: Herbalism and Urban Gardening with Madeleine Beirne - Herbalist and gardening educator with GrowNYC 

August 28: NYC Wildlife Rehabilitation with The Wild Bird Fund - Nonprofit rehabilitating sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife in NYC

September 11: Socio-Environmental History of Parks with Georgia Silvera Seamens - Founder and director of Local Nature Lab, urban community forester, and science writer

June 15, 2026 - August 24, 2026
Mondays, 12:30pm-1:30pm

June 15: Conversation on Dracula Films with Olivia Rutigliano

June 22: The Making of Sunset Boulevard with David M. Lubin

July 6: Godzilla: The First 70 Years with Steve Ryfle

July 13: Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann with Steven C. Smith

July 20: The Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki with Nicolas Rapold

July 27: Conversation on Film Director Eric Rohmer with André Aciman

August 3: The Making of Rear Window with Jennifer O'Callaghan

August 10: The World of Black Film with Ashley Clark

August 17: How Kung Fu Movies Changed the World with Grady Hendrix

August 24: Conversation on Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut with Megan Abbott

2026 Non-Fiction lineup coming soon!

July 9, 2026 – August 13, 2026
Thursdays, 6:30pm-8pm

July 9: Poetry Writing with Mary Donnelly

July 16: Creative Writing 101 with Arlaina Tibensky

July 23: Screenwriting with C.C. Webster

July 30: Fiction Writing with Susan Breen

August 6: Humor Writing with Alexander Steele

August 13: Essay & Opinion Writing with Kelly Caldwell

2026 BookClub lineup coming soon!