Good Thought: Six Smart Events in NYC This Weekend

If you’re suffering from a candy and costume overload, no worries—there’s plenty more to this weekend in NYC than Halloween. After the jump, find six great events that represent the best in New York books, art, and thought.

Friday, October 31st

Marcelo Noah — Flickr

Part of a week-long celebration of Dylan Thomas’s centenary, Halloween night at the 92nd Street Y sees a wide-ranging conversation on the poet’s life and legacy with Hannah Ellis, Thomas’s granddaughter; former Poet Laureate Philip Levine (who attended Thomas’s readings at 92Y in the 1950s); and Kevin Powell, International Ambassador for the Dylan Thomas Centennial in America.

Saturday, November 1st

Internet Archive Book Images — Flickr

Lasting from 1620 to 1691, Plymouth Colony was founded as a refuge by devout Christians escaping the persecution and volatile political environment of their English homeland. However life in the New World came with its own set of challenges—and some very high costs. In a talk at the New-York Historical Society highlighted with clips from his new documentary, celebrated filmmaker Ric Burns brings to life the story of the Pilgrims.

Hrag Vartanian

Join Andria Hickey, curator of Danh Vo: We The People, at the Pier 3 Greenway Terrace of  Brooklyn Bridge Park for a tour of the exhibition and a discussion of this multi-faceted global project.

Join expert Howard Scherry in his return visit to the Children’s Literary Salon at the New York Public Library as he discusses children’s authors Margaret Wise Brown (“Writer of Songs and Nonsense,” as she wished to be remembered on her engraved epitaph in Vinalhaven, Maine) and Antoine de Saint-Exupery (legendary aviator and author of The Little Prince).

Sunday, November 2nd

In conjunction with MoMA PS1′s current group exhibition, Zero Tolerance, Sunday Sessions presents a conversation with the most visible members of feminist punk group Pussy Riot: Masha Alekhina, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Petya Verzilov. They will join MoMA PS1 Director Klaus Biesenbach in a discussion focused on the current culture of political oppression within some national and international governments and how it is being addressed by artists worldwide.

Neon Tommy — Flickr

A New York Times best-selling author, comedienne Carol Burnett added playwright to her credits when she and her daughter, Carrie Hamilton, wrote Hollywood Arms, which premiered on Broadway in 2002. She’s currently co-starring on Broadway in a limited run of Love Letters. Catch her in conversation with the one and only Rosie O’Donnell at the 92nd Street Y.