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Local Reading Series Launches New Season at Richmond Hill Library

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | January 8, 2015 12:07pm
 The REZ Reading Series is launching its new season at Richmond Hill Library with a reading by Justin Martin, a Forest Hills-based writer, who will discuss his new book Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America's First Bohemians.
The REZ Reading Series is launching its new season at Richmond Hill Library with a reading by Justin Martin, a Forest Hills-based writer, who will discuss his new book Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America's First Bohemians.
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DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

QUEENS — A popular Queens literary series is launching its new season at Richmond Hill Library with a reading Thursday by Forest Hills-based writer, Justin Martin, who will discuss his new book on Walt Whitman, the organizers said.

According to Martin’s website, his new book, "Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America's First Bohemians," is the first "ever written about a colorful, decadent, and immensely influential artists’ circle that hung out at Pfaff’s saloon in NYC during the 1850s.”

Martin, the biographer of Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park, will give a talk, accompanied by a slide show and read some of Whitman's poetry, said Deborah Emin, a local publisher, who organizes the REZ Reading Series.

"It will be a very interesting evening, shedding light on a period in New York City and a group very few people are aware of," Emin said.

The group included Whitman, actor Edwin Booth and actress Adah Menken, who were considered the country’s first Bohemians.

Martin, a Forest Hills Gardens resident, will also be signing copies of his book.

In previous years, the free reading series, focused on highlighting local writers, was often held at Odradeks, a popular Kew Gardens coffee shop. But this year, the organizers decided to move the series entirely to the nearby library, because it provides more space and a quiet environment.

“It seemed a better fit where we were not competing with the sound of the coffee orders or the folks who weren't at Odradeks for the reading but just to hang out,” Emin said.

The library recently extended its hours and remains open until 8 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.

Writer Richard Jeffrey Newman is also expected to participate in the series this season, and Emin is hoping to invite Michael Perlman, whose new book  "Legendary Locals of Forest Hills and Rego Park" is scheduled to be published in March.

The reading featuring Justin Martin will take place on Jan. 8 at Richmond Hill Library at 118-14 Hillside Ave. at 7 p.m.