THE POWERHOUSE ARENA — a laboratory for creative thought.
Home to world-renowned art book publisher powerHouse Books, the Arena is a gallery, boutique, book store, performance, and events space located at 37 Main Street, in New York City’s scenic DUMBO neighborhood. With soaring 24-foot ceilings on the 5,000 square foot ground floor (with over 175 linear-feet of glass frontage and amphitheater-style seating), the powerHouse Arena showcases a series of landmark exhibitions, performances, and controlled mayhem fusing the worlds of art, photography, design, fashion, pop culture, advertising, music, dance, film, and television into a glorious whirlwind of captivating spectacle. One of twelve places to see in The New York Times’ 36 Hours: Photography in NYC!
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“The powerHouse Arena is quickly becoming one of the best spots to hear authors read their work.”
— Time Out New York
“The powerHouse Arena has all the books you want, and none of the ones you don’t. It’s Great!”
— DC Pierson – Author of The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To
“powerHouse events are all-out parties rather than staid readings. Attention is paid to pairing the right music with the right book-performers from Kool DJ Red Alert to the MisShapes have played book parties-and an open bar is almost always part of the equation.”
— Publishers Weekly
“If you are looking for great kids’ books, powerHouse Arena has done all of the work for you. They have assembled such a fun collection of books that you can not go wrong. Beautiful classics, new discoveries, unexpected treasures. Go there now.”
— Jon Scieszka – Author of The Stinky Cheese Man
“powerHouse Arena is one of the few places in the city where writers and readers can have a dialog in what has to be the most impressive reading space any indie bookstore offers. It’s a great reminder why independent bookstores are so necessary, and what their function is in a democracy; it gives all of us an opportunity, to openly discuss, in public, face to face questions of the day. The fact that they serve alcohol is, of course, no minor benefit.”
— Joe Meno – Author of The Great Perhaps
Upcoming Events:
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Bad benders, a run-in with Philip Roth, ill-advised hookups, a trip to Israel—Periel Aschenbrand’s memoir Is readable, ribald, and laugh-out-loud funny.
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Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, one of our most ubiquitous cultural tastemakers, discusses his memoir with co-writer and New Yorker editor Ben Greenman.
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The Olympic City is an ongoing photography project that looks at the legacy of the Olympic Games in former host cities around the world. Since 2008, photographers Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit have sought out the successes and failures, the remnants and ghosts of the Olympic spectacle.
THE POWERHOUSE ARENA [Dumbo]
The Olympic City is an ongoing photography project that looks at the legacy of the Olympic Games in former host cities around the world. Since 2008, photographers Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit have sought out the successes and failures, the remnants and ghosts of the Olympic spectacle. As cities rely more and more on cultural tourism and event-centric activities for their economy and identity, The Olympic City project serves as a focusing agent for dialogue about urban space and the role of architecture in our cultural identity.
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Three New York-based photographers present exciting new documentary projects.
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NoViolet Bulawayo’s debut is drawing comparisons to Zadie Smith and J.M. Coetzee. Join us in celebrating her New York City book launch, where she'll be in conversation with her editor, Laura Tisdel of Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Company.
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Julie Kavanagh launches The Girl Who Loved Camellias, the riveting true story of courtesan Marie Duplessis. Liesl Schillinger, whose new translation of Lady of the Camellias, Dumas’s famous work, coincides with the biography’s publication, joins Julie Kavanagh in conversation.
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The third installment in our popular Penguin Classics series stars Salon’s book critic Laura Miller and The New Republic’s Laura Franklin. Following their discussion of Shirley Jackson, we’ll host our own mini-lottery—with happier results than hers, of course.
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Private detective Claire Dewitt scours the streets of San Francisco for her ex-lover’s killer in the second installment of Sara Gran’s addictive mystery series. Author Megan Abbott joins her in conversation.
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Two prominent 21st century thinkers take on one of the most familiar literary works of the English language: Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
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Vanity Fair reporter Callie Wright launches her comic novel about coming of age in mid-90’s small town New York. Author Mary Beth Keane joins her in conversation.
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A deck of loteria cards helps inspire a young girl who has been left to fend for herself at the hands of the state.
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Annie Choi’s launches her second book, a collection of hilarious and heartfelt personal essays.
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Adelle Waldman’s debut novel chronicles the romantic escapades of a rising young Brooklyn literary star. Teddy Wayne joins her in conversation.
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A graduate student navigates her way through a catastrophic affair in Susan Choi’s chilling fourth novel.
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This documentary photo book provides an intimate perspective of the lives of 20 youths in the streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone by documenting their daily struggles and triumphs.
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Colum McCann reads from his highly anticipated new novel against the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline as part of this Borough-wide literary festival.
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A young couple leaves New York City for a bucolic life in Newport, Rhode Island, only to come up against the trappings of the city they left behind.
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This novella, penned by Prodigy of the seminal hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, is the inaugural release from Infamous Books, a partnership that pairs the Infamous Records brand with Brooklyn-based indie publisher Akashic Books.
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Michael July’s portraits of musicians, writers, activists, models, dancers, artists, poets, DJs, educators, designers, actors, students and kids, and moms and dads joyfully illustrate why natural hair continues to be an emblem of freedom, style and authenticity.
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The host of the Cooking Channel’s Hook, Line, and Dinner launches his book of simple, flavorful seafood recipes.
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A cheesemaker’s tale of a magical piece of cheese sends journalist Michael Paterniti on a journey through the Spanish countryside to discover the truth behind the myth.
