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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“They’re consistently spot-on with book launch / talk programming, and they’re our go-to for literary events.”
— Brightest Young Things
“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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A journalist tackles the history of the American spirit. Local distillery Widow Jane Distilling will serve tasting samples.
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At a Miss Nina sing-along not only will you get to sing and move along with her, you’ll hear those “book songs” she’s known for like The Brown Bear Rap based on Bill Martin Jr.’s, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See and Jane Yolen’s “How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight,” just to name a few.
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Dust & Grooves joins forces with I Love Vinyl, Dub-Stuy Records (& the Tower of Sound), Turntable Lab, and Classic Album Sundays for an opening reception and book launch party for Dust & Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting, the debut book by photographer Eilon Paz about the world’s finest record collectors.This public event celebrates vinyl culture and photography with a photo exhibition, a listening session, a book signing, and a raffle, featuring rotating sets from over 20 DJs who are featured in the book spinning all-vinyl on an audiophile sound system.
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From the author of the New York Times Bestseller and widely acclaimed Tenth of December comes CONGRATULATIONS, BY THE WAY, George Saunders’s convocation address at Syracuse University last May. The author will sign any of his books with the purchase of Congratulations, By The Way at our store.
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How did Dee Williams figure out how to have monthly bills totaling only $8 dollars a month? Find out her simple secrets of The Big Tiny! The New Yorker’s Alec Wilkinson joins Williams in conversation. The program is sponsored by Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.
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Based on the popular Tumblr, this hilarious collection features imagined misguided early drafts of classic books, screenplays, and contemporary literature. The program will be hosted by Tim Manley (Alice in Tumblr-land) and feature readings from Ben Jurney, Melinda Taub, Andy Ross, Bob Powers, and author Paul Laudiero.
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The debut novel from the frontman of the Pixies involves a French battleship explosion, the first narrative pornographic movie, and more. The conversation between Francis and co-author Josh Frank will be accompanied by a slideshow of images featured in the book, and the program will conclude with a signing. Tickets are $10 and can be applied as credit towards the purchase of The Good Inn.
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Join us for a literary crawl through Brooklyn’s DUMBO community in celebration of La Diada de Sant Jordi, also known as “International Books & Roses Day” and UNESCO’s “World Book Day.” The event, which will highlight literature in translation, will take place in partnership with four local bookshops on Saturday, April 26. There will be a short bilingual reading at each bookshop, in Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan, respectively.
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The co-founder of Brooklyn Brewery tells the story of how a band of microbrewers became one of America’s great entrepreneurial triumphs. Bronx Brewery’s Chris Gallant joins Steve Hindy in conversation. Those that purchase a copy of the book will be able to enter a raffle: prizes include a gift certificate for 10 tokens at Brooklyn Brewery and a special Brooklyn Brewery Big Bottle!
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Two renowned artists rep their respective cities in these two dynamically illustrated collections, Hello, New York and Meanwhile, in San Francisco.
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Combining insights from management literature, business history, and pop cultural resources, an n+1 editor looks at the hidden history of the white-collar workplace. Saval will be joined in conversation with fellow n+1 editor and bestselling author Chad Harbach.
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In this powerful memoir, a former Bangladesh Air Force officer confronts the man who tried to kill him 10 years earlier. Baratunde Thurston (How to Be Black) joins Giridharadas in conversation.
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A fascinating look at the journey from 17 year old dumpster diver to 29 year old CEO of Nasty Gal, a $100 million dollar etailer. Sophia Amoruso will be joined in conversation by Christine Barberich of Refinery29. Tickets are $5 and can be applied as credit towards the purchase of #GIRLBOSS.
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Prochnik’s historical biography relays the extraordinary rise and fall of Stefan Zweig, the Austrian writer who recently inspired Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. Rebecca Mead (My Life in Middlemarch) and Wayne Koestenbaum (My 1980s and Other Essay) join Prochnik in discussing writers and their influence.
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The Waters of Our Time combines Thomas Roma’s career-spanning photographs with the unique contemplation of his watchful son, Giancarlo T. Roma. Former Curator in the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art, Susan Kismaric, leads a conversation between the Romas about the project.
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The author of the best-selling Harry Hole series now gives us an electrifying stand-alone novel set inside Oslo’s maze of especially venal, high-level corruption. Nesbø will be joined in conversation by Laura Miller of Salon in a rare U.S. appearance. Tickets are $10 and can applied as credit towards the purchase of The Son.
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The owners of Brooklyn Brew Shop share 30 recipes for mastering beers inspired by popular craft breweries.
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The second novel from the consistently talented Porochista Khakpour—a former powerHouse Books employee—follows a feral boy coming of age in New York as the city hurtles toward 9/11.
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Chic New York food stylist and caterer Diana Yen celebrates the release of her sumptuous new cookbook A Simple Feast with Cherry Bombe’s Editorial Director Kerry Diamond and Creative Director Claudia Wu, who’ll join the author in conversation. Tickets are $35 and include an autographed copy of A SIMPLE FEAST, beer and wine, and food provided by the Jewels of New York.
