World Literature & Arts Festival to be Held by The New York Public Library on April 14–30, 2025

April 2, 2025—The New York Public Library will host the World Literature & Arts Festival on April 14–30, 2025, a system-wide event series highlighting storytelling across diverse voices, mediums, and world languages. Coinciding with New York City’s Immigrant Heritage Week (April 13–19) and National Poetry Month, the Festival will spotlight the City’s multilingual and cultural diversity through author talks, performances, culinary experiences, writing workshops, and more.

The Festival will kick-off with “The New Rap Language: How Musicians Continue to Transform the Spoken Word” on April 15, 6:30–8 PM at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL). The event will feature groundbreaking musicians Audry Funk, Bartika Eam Rai, and Felukah as they sit with journalist Jessica Lipksy to discuss how using their native and adopted languages shapes their unique styles and how their artistry speaks to issues important to them.

“We are thrilled to welcome more than thirty trailblazing writers, artists, chefs, and performers from diverse backgrounds to this year’s World Literature & Arts Festival. We can’t wait to welcome patrons to this celebration of the myriad ways that creativity and culture intersect in New York City,” said Erica Parker, Associate Director for Adult Programming at The New York Public Library.

The wide array of branch events and programs for all ages—memoir writing workshops, recipe swaps, open mic nights, bilingual storytimes, and beyond—are available on our website.

Highlights include:

• “Latinx Artists Speak: Storytelling, Making, and Belonging” on April 22, 6–7:30 PM at St. George Library Center in Staten Island will bring together Latinx artists Irma Bohorquez-Geisler, Patricia Cazorla, Nancy Saleme, and Libby Paloma in a panel discussion moderated by Pulitzer Prize winning artist Medar de la Cruz that will explore art as a medium for storytelling and the intersection of Latinx identity, creativity, and community. Presented in English and Spanish (español).
• “Celebration of Sweetness with Malai Ice Cream” on April 23, 6–7:30 PM at Seward Park Library in Manhattan will feature Malai Ice Cream founder Pooja Bavishi discussing her latest work, Malai Cookbook, a celebration of the South Asian ingredients, followed by a vibrant performance by local drag artist Malai and free artisanal ice cream flavors from the cookbook.
• “New Voices of the Bengali Diaspora: Poetry Reading & Discussion” on April 24, 6–7:30 PM at Parkchester Library in the Bronx will convene poets Ashna Ali and Amatan Noor in discussion moderated by Jafreen Uddin (Executive Director of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop) for an evening of poetry readings and conversation around identity, language, gender, and translation.
• “Prologue Part II: Shadow Puppet Performance” on April 26, 2–3:30 PM at Chatham Square Library in Manhattan, will present a unique shadow puppet performance, following the journeys of Chinese women from Brooklyn as they share their stories through shadow play, object manipulation, and music. Presented in English and Cantonese.
• “The Latehomecomer Live on Stage” on April 30, 6–7:30 PM at the Bronx Library Center in the Bronx, presented in collaboration with Literature to Life, will bring to life on stage The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang, the memoir that stands as a tribute to the author's remarkable grandmother’s refugee story. The one-woman production will be performed by Hmong actress and traditional Flower Singer, Gaosong Heu. 

The Library’s signature LIVE from NYPL series, which brings together distinguished writers, artists, and scholars for conversations, will also host two special events:

• José Andrés: Change the Recipe on April 21, 7–8 PM, where the Michelin-starred chef and founder of World Central Kitchen shares lessons learned from a lifetime of experience everywhere from the kitchen to crisis zones.
• Karla Cornejo Villavicencio con Daniel Alarcón: Catalina el 29 de abril, 7–8 PM, donde la autora conversará sobre su nuevo libro que explora las complejidades de la identidad inmigrante en Estados Unidos, inspirado en sus experiencias como estudiante indocumentada. / Karla Cornejo Villavicencio con Daniel Alarcón: Catalina on April 29, 7–8 PM, where the author will discuss her new book exploring the complexities of immigrant identity in the United States, inspired by her experiences as an undocumented student. This event will take place in Spanish.

As a part of the Festival, the Library has reading recommendations in select languages, curated by expert librarians. New recommendations are added throughout April on nypl.org/worldliteraturefestival. All of the books will be in the Library’s catalog. Availability in multiple languages and formats (e.g., e-books, audiobooks, and more) vary by title.

The Library is a free year-round destination for everyone. The World Language Collections feature books and materials, including newspapers, magazines, DVDs, and music in more than 60 languages, available digitally and at branches across the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Patrons can explore learning opportunities in over 70 languages through a wide array of resources and programs, including language classes, conversation groups, world language articles and databases, language learning tools, and much more. The Library has a page dedicated to multilingual resources to help patrons sign up for a free library card and navigate these offerings and everything else. 

 

About The New York Public Library

For over 125 years, The New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With over 90 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars. The New York Public Library receives approximately 16 million visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.