MATEO ASKARIPOUR wants people to feel seen. His first novel, Black Buck, takes on racism in corporate America with humor and wit. It was an instant New York Times bestseller and a Read with Jenna Today show book club pick.
Askaripour was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly’s “10 rising stars poised to make waves” and was named as a recipient of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” prize.
This Great Hemisphere is his second novel.
He lives in Brooklyn.
AMANDA MILLER is a Brooklyn-based writer and theater artist. Her nonfiction, fiction and poetry have appeared in The Rumpus, Thieving Magpie, Jewishfiction.net, Sylvia Magazine, Fearsome Critters, Hare’s Paw, Freerange Nonfiction, Cratelit, Underwired Magazine, and other publications.
She is the author of One Breath, Then Another: A Memoir, co-editor of Words After Dark: A Lyrics, Lit & Liquor Anthology, and host of performances series' Lyrics, Lit & Liquor and Supper in Fort Lauderdale.
Amanda has toured her award-winning theater pieces to festivals through the U.S., Scotland and Canada. She is currently producing a play she co-wrote with her mother called Quacks & Whacks: A C(ancer) Comedy which will premiere at the NYC Fringe Festival in April 2025.
Amanda holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School and a BFA in Acting from NYU.
NICOLE TRESKA is the author of the debut memoir Wonderland: A Tale of Hustling Hard and Breaking Even (Simon & Schuster, 2024). The Wall Street Journal called Wonderland “gatsbyesque," and Treska "washed up on the shores of respectability.”
Her work has recently appeared in The End, Forever Magazine, and Archway Editions. Her short fiction has appeared in New York Tyrant magazine, Epiphany literary journal, and Egress: New Openings in Literary Art.
Her interviews and reviews are up at Electric Literature, Guernica, The Millions, BOMB, The Rumpus, and others.
IRVIN WEATHERSBY JR. is a Brooklyn-based writer and professor from New Orleans. His writing has been featured in Guernica, Esquire, The Atlantic, EBONY, and elsewhere.
He has earned an MFA from The New School, an MA from Morgan State University, and a BA from Morehouse College.
He has received fellowships and awards from the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, the Research Foundation of CUNY, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Mellon Foundation.
The doors will open at 7:30 p.m., and readings will begin at 8:00 p.m.Admission is free, but you'll need to RSVP with your name and your e-mail address.
Hosted by Sarah Bridgins and Lena Valencia, Ditmas Lit is a monthly reading series in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, dedicated to showcasing a diverse range of emerging and established writers in all genres.
On the fourth Wednesday of every month, we gather at The Urbane Arts Club at 8PM to listen as poets, essayists, fiction writers, and storytellers share their work.
