Current:Home > NewsStaff at NYC cultural center resign after acclaimed author's event canceled-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Staff at NYC cultural center resign after acclaimed author's event canceled
View Date:2024-12-24 09:15:50
Staff from The 92nd Street Y, New York are resigning, after the storied cultural hub abruptly halted a scheduled reading by author Viet Thanh Nguyen.
Now the rest of the 92NY's poetry reading season – which was set to feature Emily Wilson, Roxane Gay, Tracy K. Smith, and more – is "currently on pause," according to a 92NY spokesperson.
On Friday, 92NY was supposed to host Nguyen, who is promoting his new memoir A Man of Two Faces. The acclaimed author has won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his book The Sympathizer, and writes often about the experience of refugees. Earlier in the week, Nguyen joined more than 700 other writers in signing an open letter published in the in the London Review of Books calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
"We can only express our grief and heartbreak for the victims of these most recent tragedies, and for their families, both Palestinians and Israelis," reads the letter. "But the unprecedented and indiscriminate violence that is still escalating against the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, with the financial and political support of Western powers, can and must be brought to an end."
A few hours before the reading was set to take place, a spokesperson for 92NY said the event was "postponed."
In a statement sent to NPR, the 92NY spokesperson said the center has always invited diverse viewpoints. "As a Jewish organization we believe the responsible course of action right now is to take some time to determine how best to use our platform and support the entire 92NY community, so we made the difficult decision to postpone the October 20th event."
Nguyen instead held the event at the McNally Jackson bookstore in Manhattan.
The poetry center's director Sarah Chihaya and senior program coordinator Sophie Herron confirmed to NPR that they both resigned from their posts following the cancellation of Nguyen's event, but did not comment further.
The 92nd Street Y, New York's Unterberg Poetry Center has been a hub for literary events and readings since 1939. It has a long history of hosting canonical writers such as T.S Eliot, Langston Hughes, Marianne Moore, to more contemporary authors such as Sandra Cisneros and Lorrie Moore.
When contacted by NPR, Nguyen said he hasn't been in touch directly with the board or any spokespersons from 92NY. On Instagram, he wrote "I have no regrets about anything I have said or done in regards to Palestine, Israel, or the occupation and war."
veryGood! (76547)
Related
- Georgia House Democrats shift toward new leaders after limited election gains
- iCarly’s Nathan Kress Welcomes Baby No. 3 With Wife London
- Can Biden’s Plan to Boost Offshore Wind Spread West?
- In Deep Adaptation’s Focus on Societal Collapse, a Hopeful Call to Action
- Brush fire erupts in Brooklyn's iconic Prospect Park amid prolonged drought
- State line pot shops latest flashpoint in Idaho-Oregon border debate
- The U.S. is threatening to ban TikTok? Good luck
- 5 things we learned from the Senate hearing on the Silicon Valley Bank collapse
- Don't Miss Cameron Diaz's Return to the Big Screen Alongside Jamie Foxx in Back in Action Trailer
- The U.S. condemns Russia's arrest of a Wall Street Journal reporter
Ranking
- Shel Talmy, produced hits by The Who, The Kinks and other 1960s British bands, dead at 87
- Actor Julian Sands Found Dead on California's Mt. Baldy 6 Months After Going Missing
- First Republic Bank shares sink to another record low, but stock markets are calmer
- The Biden administration sells oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico
- Amazon Black Friday 2024 sales event will start Nov. 21: See some of the deals
- One Last Climate Warning in New IPCC Report: ‘Now or Never’
- Miami woman, 18, allegedly tried to hire hitman to kill her 3-year-old son
- The Bureau of Land Management Lets 1.5 Million Cattle Graze on Federal Land for Almost Nothing, but the Cost to the Climate Could Be High
Recommendation
-
Utah AD Mark Harlan rips officials following loss to BYU, claims game was 'stolen from us'
-
Inside Clean Energy: Lawsuit Recalls How Elon Musk Was King of Rooftop Solar and then Lost It
-
11 horses die in barbaric roundup in Nevada caught on video, showing animals with broken necks
-
SVB collapse could have ripple effects on minority-owned banks
-
Harriet Tubman posthumously honored as general in Veterans Day ceremony: 'Long overdue'
-
TikTok CEO says company is 'not an agent of China or any other country'
-
The Biden Administration Takes Action on Toxic Coal Ash Waste, Targeting Leniency by the Trump EPA
-
Who are the Hunter Biden IRS whistleblowers? Joseph Ziegler, Gary Shapley testify at investigation hearings