Monday, May 4
100 writers from 30 countries are gathering in New York City this week for the 11th Annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, a seven day literary event. This year's festival throws a spotlight on perspectives from contemporary Africa and its diaspora. Explore a wide range of debates, readings, workshops, and performances in venues from Lower Manhattan and Harlem to Brooklyn and the Bronx, and engage directly with emerging and established international authors. Monday's events include World Voices: International Play Festival 2015 (free) from 4:30 p.m. at CUNY Graduate Center: Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 Fifth Ave at 34th St., Midtown; Monkey Business: A Japan/America Writers Dialogue in Words & Pictures ($15) at the Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, Upper East Side, from 7:30 p.m. and the Festival’s Opening Night: The Future Is Now ($10) at The Great Hall, The Cooper Union, 7 East 7th St. East Village. Check the expansive schedule here. Through to May 10.
Tuesday, May 5
Celebrate Cinco De Mayo by cooking specially decorated batches of cupcakes in the kitchens of the famous Magnolia Bakery. Take home six of the cupcakes you create, a Magnolia Bakery tote bag, cupcake decorations, and an at-home icing starter kit. Magnolia Bakery UWS, 200 Columbus Avenue at 69th Street, Upper West Side. From 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., tickets are $60.
If you're throwing your own Cinco de Mayo soiree, check out special holiday recipes from local Mexican restaurants here.
Wednesday, May 6
Scottish actor Alan Cumming ("The Good Wife," "Cabaret") is appearing Wednesday at New York Public Library to discuss his acclaimed book “Not My Father's Son: A Memoir.” The talk is part of the NYPL’s “Books at Noon” series in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, hosted by Jessica Strand, every Wednesday in Spring. Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, Midtown. From 12 p.m.
Thursday, May 7
Living Liberally, an organization dedicated to creating communities around progressive politics, is honoring The Nation magazine and its editor, publisher, and part-owner Katrina vanden Heuvel Thursday evening at The Living Liberally 2015 Annual Celebration, an event celebrating the magazine’s 150 anniversary. Self-described as "the flagship of the left,” The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. From 6:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. at The DCTV Firehouse, 87 Lafayette St., TriBeCa. Tickets from $100.
