September Events For Myth Lovers
Virtual Events
On Thursday September 4, participate in an online book discussion of Infinite Country by Patricia Engel, a novel about “Bogotá urban life, steeped in Andean myth, and tense with the daily reality of the undocumented in America.”
On September 8 Yoga for Witches takes place.
On September 9, you can watch a slideshow about the mythology and folklore of giants and discuss it afterward in a zoom Q&A session.
On September 21, the English Language LGBT Book Club Zurich will be discussing Jennifer Saint’s new myth-driven novel Ariadne.
On September 23, learn about subjects such as the economy, diet, women’s role, settlement design, religion, and more during the period of the Hebrew Bible in the online discussion “Man Does Not Live By Bread Alone” (Deut 8:3): Daily Life In Biblical Times.
The Brooklyn Book Festival takes place both live and virtually from September 26 through October 4. Authors involved include Jeff VanderMeer, Molly Knox Ostertag, Aminder Dhaliwal, and many more.
Starting September 16-October 7, you can take an online class on Greek mythology at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research on Thursday nights. $315.
Emil Doepler’s Loki's brood; Hel, Fenrir and Jörmungandr is in the public domain.
New York City Events
On September 1, LingXiao will exhibit poetry and illustrations about his arrival in New York. His poems comprise 26 alphabets and absorb some grammar from American Sign Language, among other things.
On September 1, the comedian and actor Simone Norman will “take you on a walk through Hell. It won't be a romantic walk. Well, maybe a little. If you manage to make it out the other side.”
On September 4 and 18 at 6 pm, the Barracuda Lounge will have Star Trek Viewing Parties that include “Star Trek Trivia games, special Star Trek themed drag performances, special guests, 2-4-1 drinks, fabulous Star Trek prizes,” and more in an effort to fundraise for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
On September 8 play Disney Movie Trivia at Arcadia Bar & Kitchen at 7:30pm.
On September 9, Carolina Lopez-Ruiz of Ohio State University will give a lecture at Princeton about the Levantines in the early first millennium BC, known then as well as now as Phoenicians, as well as other relatively obscure local cultures: Sardinians, Tartessians, Sicels, Cypriots, North African groups, etc. She explains their role in cultural transformation and how it is often neglected by classicists.
On September 10, 11 or 12, you can watch Salt Water People, a performance about the legend of the 12th Generation East Hampton Bonacker Bayman Chris King, and his final fishing trip with his son, Danny. Chris. He catches a mystical creature and must choose which he’d rather lose: his son or his mind.
On September 12, mermaids will swarm Coney Island in the 39th annual Mermaid Parade. You need to register to participate.
On September 17, 18 or 19 watch “UNICORNIOS EN CAUTIVERIO" (Unicorns In Captivity) by Puerto Rican playwright Leo Cabranes-Grant, at the Thalia Spanish Theatre in Queens, in Spanish with English subtitles.
Attend Wizardfest, an interactive party that celebrates the wizarding world, cosplay and all things magic. It will be on September 23 in Poughkeepsie and October 29 in New York City.
On September 26, watch a screening of Disney's new animated film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), followed by a Q&A with four members of the film's animation team.
On September 26, a woman who claims to be a psychic medium will connect the people in her audience with their dead loved ones at a convention center in Edison, New Jersey. (A lot of things happen in New Jersey….)
On September 28, Broadway performances of Aladdin are scheduled to resume. You can book tickets now.
"NORMAN MILLS PRICE (American, 1877-1951), 'The Great God Pan'" by sofi01 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
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.
Until October 31, see Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition Cosmic Nature, which features monumental sculptures such as “I Want to Fly to the Universe” at the New York Botanical Garden.
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 September 2 to 6, Dragoncon, a “multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction & fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film,” takes place in Atlanta. Programming includes everything from writer workshops to tai chi to “Talloolah Love Presents: Dragon Con Burlesque – A Glamour Geek Revue.”
From September 3-5, FANEXPO Boston takes place at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
From September 4-6, Narrativity will be having a gathering in Plymouth, MN of writers, readers and other interested parties focused primarily on fantasy. Programming includes “the importance of the mundane in fantasy,” among many other things.
From September 9-12, Connecticon takes place in Hartford Conn.
From September 10-12, the Sci Fi Summit takes place in Edison, New Jersey.
DisCon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention, no longer takes place August 25-29, 2021. Instead, it will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC on December 15-19, 2021, with both virtual and in person components.
From September 1-5, 2022, Chicon 8 takes place in Chicago.
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 September 14, spend a week discovering Sicily’s archeology, art and cuisine with a maximum of 16 other travelers plus an expert lecturer, trip manager, and local guides. Discover monuments such as Agrigento, Selinunte, Segesta, and Syracuse, among other things.
Starting September 18, travel with archaeologist and author Patrick Hunt to discover how the ancient Gauls and Romans interacted with the landscapes and shaped the history and cultures of northern Italy and southern France.
Starting September 21, take a seven night cruise along the Croatian coast and learn about archaeological sites, cathedrals, palaces, and ancient city centers in Slovenia and Croatia.
Starting September 22, take a trip with an archeologist to discover southwestern Europe’s prehistoric caves such as Las Monedas Cave and Cueva del Castillo, where 455 animal likenesses were painted and engraved some 22,000-14,000 years ago.
FantasyCon will take place on September 24- 26 in Birmingham, the United Kingdom. It is the national fantasy convention run by the British Fantasy Society.
Recurring Virtual Events
Nina Allender’s 1915 cartoon “Fairy Godmother Wilson: 'The pumpkin shall be a coach; the mice will be the horses to pull it; and YOU shall go to the polls!'" is in the public domian.
Starting May 1 until November 22 at 7 pm U.K. time, twice a month you can attend Fairy Tales and Therapy: “group discussion spaces exploring fairytales and mythology stories to expand our understanding of individual and collective psychology.” £17.50
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.
On Sunday mornings, Krista Lea will present an online meditation class that uses sound, aroma, poetry, and goddess mythology to focus on the archetype of the Divine Feminine. Tickets $11
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.
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