DATEBOOK: January 28–February 3, 2025
Introducing a new format to Scremes Report, plus two hot US launches from FSG, and a Heavy Traffic reading scene report
Hi Everyone,
I’m pleased to be introducing a series of newly defined verticals for Scremes Report, starting with today’s inaugural double issue of Datebook and Scene Report.
At its core, Scremes Report has from the beginning been a guide to literary events. However, it is also a publication exploring the many-faceted world of literature— discussions with writers and editors; analyses of trends in literary culture; portraits of literary scenes past and present; reading recommendations.
It no longer feels fitting to lump all of these aspects of the publication into a single fortnightly send.
Now, you’ll receive Datebook in your inbox every Tuesday, with an itinerary of events for the week ahead. Occasionally, these will be accompanied by Scene Report, a brief impression of a literary event from the week past, by a guest contributor or myself.
Sundays with Scremes, delivered twice monthly, will be the forum for interviews and essays on literary culture.
And, I’m introducing a new monthly column, Syllabus Scremes, featuring a thematic suite of recommended reading material for your month ahead.
xx, Scremes
Tuesday January 28th
Sunflower Station Press presents Sunflower Nights feat. Morgan Parker, Katja Grober, Nikolai Garcia, Bri Stokes, Elyse Runkle, Ryan Moats, and Victoria Alejandro | 7:30 pm at Tabula Rasa Bar (5125 Hollywood Blvd.) LA. Free.
Wednesday January 29th
Launch of The Wickedest by Caleb Femi, in conversation with Jackson Howard, senior editor at FSG | 7 pm at Mood Ring. BK. $15 on RA, includes drink ticket.
Thursday January 30th
Salon21 presents: “Traveling Scrolls in the Americas,” a lecture by artist Marc Armitano Domingo | 6 pm at Salon21 (52 Greene St.) NY. Free with RSVP.
A Lit Mag Mixer at McNally Jackson, feat. Epiphany, The Drift, Lampblack, One Story, The Paris Review, and A Public Space | 6:30 pm at McNally Jackson Seaport. NY. $5 RSVP required (Voucher can be used toward a purchase).
Launch of Soft Core by Brittany Newell feat. readings by Brontez Purnell and Brittany Newell. Music by Josh Cheon and Chuck Gunn. | 8 pm at The Stud. SF. Free.
Parapraxis Magazine reading feat. Marianne Brooker, Yasmin El-Rifae, Daisy Lafarge, Jacqueline Rose, Akshi Singh, and Hannah Zeavin. Nihal El Aasar DJs. | 7 pm at The Jago Dalston (440 Kingsland Rd.) LONDON. Free.
Heavy Traffic Reading • Scene Report by Spencer Whaley
I showed up early, yet the line to enter had already stretched far past the radius of warmth from the heaters. The men behind me talked about their unfinished novels and the merits of submitting to small publications—giving the line, which, by its length, location and costuming, left me worried I was standing around in the cold for something more scene than literary—a legitimacy I respected.
Sheila Heti, as headliner, didn’t hurt either. By happy accident, I stumbled upon her recent short story in the New Yorker (usually shying away from their fiction), and I was delighted to find a story centered around a boarding school at sea. Like an earworm of a song, I had it stuck in my head for the rest of the week, making it all feel like divine providence.
After much shivering, subtle eavesdropping and less subtle elbowing, I made it inside, standing among others arrived early enough to gain admittance, but too late to win seats, all of us snaked along the wall. The audience warmed in tandem with each of the five readers; I found, on the whole, the pieces to be cerebral yet sincere. I prefer legible works, where I can follow either plot or emotional arc, and each reader offered an access point, some point of approachable ground, culminating with Sheila Heti closing by reading from transcripts of ‘conversations’ she’d had with an AI. I was reminded of the narrator of Motherhood consulting the i-ching, and documenting questions and responses. Heti managed to mold the AI to her purpose — to use it as a divine oracle (and as a mirror, revealing her anxieties by the questions she posed).
Even those left out in the cold seemed to warm too, in the face of a closed door; laughter from the crowds huddled under heat lamps continued into the night.
—Spencer Whaley, Nouveau Biche
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