January Events For Myth Lovers
John Singer Sargent’s Hercules is in the public domain.
Virtual Events
On January 4, you can join an online discussion of the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, a weekly strip created in 1905 in which a boy named Nemo (which means “no one” in Latin) has an adventure in each installment that always ends with him waking up at home in bed. He has been summoned to play with Slumberland’s Princess, although his journey toward her is frequently interrupted.
On January 8, join an online discussion of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology.
On January 9, you can join an online conversation about personal mythology, which taps into older tales in order to address questions such as “who am I?”, “where am I going?” and “why am I going there?” Share stories with others to being regaining the authorship of your narrative.
On January 12, learn about the folklore and mythology of beekeeping.
On January 15, you can watch Around the World in 80 Potsherds; in other words, travel in fine pandemic style by looking at broken ceramics from archeological sites all over the world.
Gustav Klimt’s painting The Kiss is in the public domain.
On January 29 through February 6, you can sell your old Mangas, animes, videogames, posters, soundtracks, and more at the Anime Flea Market online. Most participants come from German-speaking countries, but all are welcome, and the website is translated into English.
On January 30, learn about how ancient Mesopotamian perceptions of sensory experiences compared to our own modern ones.
On January 30, Isabel Allende will give a virtual talk about her new novel Violeta, which tells the story of how a woman born in 1920 struggled against the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, misogyny, and maybe something fantastical (I’m guessing, since Allende has an imagination.)
New York City Events
On January 4, takea “shamanic souls journey” at urban souls yoga that includes vocal and ancient instrumental music.
On Wednesday mornings starting January 5, you can take a class at the Met about surrealism.
On January 8, take a walking tour of Swoon, Mast, Wolf Tits and other renowned and street artists in Gowanus Brooklyn, as well as historical landmarks, architecture, hidden art spaces, and the work of anonymous "green guerillas" and graffiti artists.
Maurice And Edward Detmold’s illustration Mowgli and the Lone Wolf is in the public domain.
On January 11, you can buy two for one tickets to Broadway shows that take place from January 18- February 13, ranging from Aladdin to Harry Potter.
On Sunday January 23, go to Carnegie Hall to see Uma Thurman narrate a retelling of Penelope, who fended off suitors while her husband Odysseus made his way home from Troy. The soprano Renee Fleming, Emerson String Quartet, and pianist Simone Dinnerstein will put the drama to music.
On January 25, The Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations will give a presentation at The National Arts Club about the sacred island of Delos, the mythological birthplace of Apollo and Artemis.
You can see an exhibit on surrealism at the Met until January 30, including a Marcel Jean’s wardrobe that opens to an outdoor vista, Frida Kahlo’s drawing of an “exquisite corpse,” Max Ernst’s picture of two children threatened by a nightingale, and Ithell Colquhoun’s rendition of the ancient greek monster Scylla.
All month through March 6, the Met has a special exhibition about Disney. Sixty works of 18th-century European decorative arts and design—from tapestries and furniture to Boulle clocks and Sèvres porcelain—will be featured alongside 150 production artworks and works on paper from Disney. The exhibit references European visual culture in Disney animated films, including nods to Gothic Revival architecture in Cinderella (1950), medieval influences on Sleeping Beauty (1959), and Rococo-inspired objects brought to life in Beauty and the Beast (1991).
On different days from November 24 - Jan 22, go on a 1.5 mile walk through the New York Botanical Garden that will be lit with “whimsical” installations, including a Cathedral of Light tunnel, a Fire Garden on Lily Pool Terrace, and a Field of Light. Then watch carvers transform ice into sculptures.
Any day you want you can go to Beetle House, a restaurant that takes inspiration from Tim Burton, Alfred Hitchcock, Bram Stoker, Washington Irving, Edgar Allen Poe and many more. The menu includes, Blood Bags, Hautned Lemonade, Bio-Exorcism’s, among other things. Dining in only, which adds a new COVID element to the scare show.
Check out the dragons, kings, pirate ships, Merlin’s flying machines and other spectacles at the new Legoland in Goshen, New York.
Get Butter Beer at the new Harry Potter-themed store and bar at 935 Broadway near the Flatiron Building.
Miss going to the movies? Watch a socially distanced one outside with your friends at Sidewalk Cinema on Thames Street in Brooklyn.
Watch a string quartet perform the soundtracks from movies such as Aladdin, the Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and more in candlelight at the Mondrian Hotel Terrace. Tickets available on different days.
Check out the images of buddhas, bodhisattvas, tantric deities, protectors and more at the Rubin Museum’s Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room.
U.S. Events
"Myth.Slide1.16" by c.a.francese is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
From January 14-17, you can attend Arisia at the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel. The conference programming includes panels such as “Pandemic fiction: Before and After,” how to find romance in a pandemic, pictionary with robots, befriending your inner demons, and a craft session for making your own BDSM toys or costumes (you read that last one correctly!)
On January 15 and 16, you can attend the NY Sci-Fi Wintercon Expo at the casino hotel Hyatt Regency JFK Airport at Resorts World New York.
The conference Anime Los Angeles 17 has been postponed for a year. Instead of this month, it will take place from January 6-9, 2022, in Long Beach California.
World Events
On January 21-23, you can attend the science fiction convention GenghisCon in Australia.
On January 29 through February 6, you can sell your old Mangas, animes, videogames, posters, soundtracks, and more at the Anime Flea Market online. Most participants come from German-speaking countries, but all are welcome, and the website is translated into English.
Recurring Virtual Events
Every year in the secret realm of Bunnyville, magical creatures from around the world gather for their annual summit. This is supposed to be a time to reconnect with old and new friends, but this year someone (or some creature!) has stolen the Easter Bunny’s magical golden egg! Kids and adults can both enjoy this enchanted game featuring creatures like fairies, dragons, mermaids, and of course the Easter Bunny!
If you would rather be in France right now, view a selection of thematically-themed works from the Louvre online, including the ones in the Sully Wing, which includes major works of Greek and Egyptian art such as the Venus de Milo.
Take an online course with Stanford research scholar Adrienne Mayor in which you will “uncover the natural origins of stories about dragons. . .; ponder whether the Amazon horsewomen-archers of myth existed; consider the dilemmas of using poison weapons in myth and ancient historical times; and marvel at robots and other science fiction tales from the time of Homer.” $120.
Take an online mini-course about Rome, seeing how it exists not only in brick and mortar, but also in the realm of ideas, and through the eyes of locals and visitors. Topics will include Rome’s urban and architectural development, as well as its representation in maps and artworks from across the city’s exceptionally long lifetime. $99.
The NY Mythology Group, which is associated with the Joseph Campbell Foundation, holds presentations and discussions about mythology related topics ranging from the Greek goddess Hecate to Carl Jung. Their events usually take place on Tuesday evenings at 8 pm EDT, and have been online since the pandemic started.
BSFW, or Brooklyn Speculative Fiction Writers, meetings take place mostly online currently, but pre-pandemic were in the homes of writers mostly in Brooklyn but also on occasion Manhattan or Queens. Check out their calendar on meetup to attend their numerous writing workshops, social gatherings, meetings with editors/agents/authors, book clubs, and more. The group includes many published writers and has its own audio fiction magazine, Kaleidocast. If you post about your fetish for Olympian gods on their Facebook group feed, they (probably) won’t judge.
EREWHON BOOKS, a publisher focusing on novel-length works of speculative fiction: science fiction, fantasy, and related genres, holds readings usually on the second Thursday each month virtually for now and in a pre-apocalypse world at its high ceilinged office of many windows in Manhattan.
Fantastic Fiction at KGB is a monthly speculative-fiction reading series held on the third Wednesday of every month virtually for now, and in a pre-apocalypse world at KGB Bar in Manhattan. Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel host the event. As one might expect from a communism-themed bar, admission is free.
The NYC Greek Myth & Classical Lit Meetup meets every third Thursday of the month at the Cloister Cafe in the East Village to discuss the work of mostly long dead authors (e.g. Aristophanes, Dante.) The group has existed for more than a decade, so the long-term participants have already earned their unofficial classics PhD’s, and we already know that anybody who would do this for fun is as hip as a person can get.
Marcantonio Raimondi’s “A Bacchanal”. CC01.0 Public domain.
