– Events kick off on Saturday at 4 PM with The Magathon at the New York Public Library (main branch: Fifth Ave @ 42nd Street). For 2.5 hours, a number of journal editors will present favorite selections from their latest issues.

– Then on Sunday from noon to 5, get your discounted periodical fix at the 11th Annual Literary Magazine Fair (also known as the Giant Lit Mag Fair) at Housing Works Bookstore Café (126 Crosby St.). Hundreds of mags will be marked down…some by more than 50%! Meet the editors and learn more about the staggering variety of literary magazines/journals seeking new work and new readers.

If you can’t make it next weekend but want to learn more about what lit journals are out there–and what they’re looking for–the CLMP is currently offering its annually updated Literary Press and Magazine Directory for only $20.

Orhan Pamuk / photo by Elena Seibert

Boston-area FWR readers, check out the Boston Book Festival THIS Saturday, October 24, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm at Copley Square. The festival features readings, lectures, and discussions such as:

• Keynote speaker Orhan Pamuk
• “Ties That Bind”: novelists Richard Russo, Michael Thomas, and Elinor Lipman on the family in fiction
• John Hodgman interviewed by Tom Perrotta
• “Book Worms and Net Crawlers”: thoughts on “the ubiquitous internet and the explosion of social media” by authors Ben Mezrich and Ethan Gilsdorf and New York Times technology columnist David Pogue. (Read the FWR review of Ethan’s book, Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, here.)
• “Struggles in a Strange Land: The Power of Place,” a panel discussion with Anita Diamant, Anita Shreve, Elizabeth Nunez and Carolina De Robertis
• Free writing classes from Grub Street, Boston’s premier independent writing center

Click here for a full list of events and descriptions. There will also be lots of exhibitors, like 826Boston and One Story Magazine, with giveaways and goodies.

Admission is free and the festival happens rain or shine.

At 3:45 on the Salon Stage, be sure to attend the 2009 Emerging Voices reading; presented by PEN USA, it will feature Erika Ayon, John Boucher, Rachelle Cruz, Thi Dao, Parnaz Foroutan, Syliva Sukop, Marissa Tinloy, and Mehnaz Turner reading poetry, stories and non-fiction. (Via Mediobistro: “Emerging Voices is a literary mentorship program designed to launch potential professional writers from underserved communities.”)

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit the fair’s website.

copyright: Housing Works

New York-based writer-readers: On Sunday, May 31, come to Housing Works for the 10th Annual Literary Magazine Fair with the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP). Admission is free, and all lit magazines will be on sale for only $2! I’m hoping to come away (as I do every year) with a tote bag full of literary goodness.

About Housing Works:

Since opening its doors in 1998, Housing Works’ Bookstore Cafe has been an unparalleled hot spot for New York’s literary community, hosting countless readings, panels, and parties for every major publisher, as well as magazines from Lucky to the New Yorker. Every dollar from every customer goes to support Housing Works’ mission to end homelessness and AIDS.