Marcel Dzama at Book Court!

Posted on March 12, 2010

Sad you can't make it to Montreal for Marcel Dzama's exhibition, "Of Many Turns" at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal?

Happily, the artist - an 826NYC advisory board member and volunteer! - will be signing copies of the catalog at Brooklyn's very own BookCourt on Monday, March 15th, at 7:00pm.

For more information, please contact BookCourt!

Your Cheating Champs: High Maintenance Shorties!

Posted on March 08, 2010

This past Saturday, we hosted our third annual Scrabble for Cheaters tournament. Cheats were in full effect, allowing players to reject and invent words, buy vowels, and add points to carefully placed tiles. Everyone played hard and cheated strategically, but after a grueling six rounds the High Maintenance Shorties finally cheated their way to the top, ousting the two-year reigning champions, The Fightin' Caziques!

Thanks to all the players and everyone who donated, and special thanks to our guests Peter Dinklage, John Oliver, Paul Rudd, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Sarah Vowell, and extra special thanks to the very generous and very amazing Russ & Daughters.

Scrabble for Cheaters: Sign Up Today!

Posted on February 17, 2010

The more money you raise, the more you can cheat!

826NYC is hosting its third annual SCRABBLE FOR CHEATERS, a tournament of verbal smarts and fraudulence, on March 6th, at 826NYC.

This year, Paul Rudd, John Oliver, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Peter Dinklage, and others (perhaps YOU!) will be there to challenge our reigning champions, the wily Morgan Clendaniel & Gideon Friedman of The Fightin' Caziques.

We have a very limited number of spots available. So sign up soon!

For more information about this event, or to check out the competition, please visit our SCRABBLE FOR CHEATERS website.

All Hail the King of Children's Literature!

Posted on February 08, 2010

While his term as the inaugural National Ambassador for Children's Literature has recently come to an end, Jon "The Fiesta" Scieszka's reign as King of Children's Literature has just begun. On Wednesday, February 3rd, 826NYC students, parents, volunteers and staff gathered to honor our Board Vice President with an official engraved crown, and of course, a (very regal) cape. The awards were presented by our own illustrious Noemi (age 8), who emceed the evening while her fellow students shared some of their favorite moments in Scieszka's stinky cheese-scented fiction. Lots of cake and (not-so-stinky) cheese were had by all. Jon has been a familiar face at 826NYC for years, and will continue to inspire countless budding Ambassadors from his new throne. We can't imagine a foreseeable successor. Thanks for all that you do, Scieszka!

Congratulations to our Oscar-Nominated Friends!

Posted on February 02, 2010

We would like to congratulate the following friends of 826NYC on their Academy Award nominations:
Nick Hornby, who donated the proceeds of his book The Polysyllabic Spree to 826NYC, has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for An Education (starring recent 826NYC ping-pong benefit player Peter Sarsgaard). Tom McCarthy, 826NYC summer filmmaking volunteer, has been nominated for Best Original Screenplay for concocting the story for Up. 826NYC benefit performer, Brooklyn's Maggie Gyllenhaal, has been nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Crazy Heart.

826NYC's So You Think You Can Pong? - A Fantastic Success!

Posted on December 25, 2009

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the So You Think You Can Pong? Table Tennis Tournament, held on January 13th at SPiN New York. It was an exciting evening with Jason Jones, of The Daily Show, acting as emcee, and Sean Avery, Mario Batali, Dave Eggers, Catherine Keener, Mike Myers, Peter Sarsgaard, David Schwimmer, Will Shortz and Sarah Vowell playing in support of 826NYC and its programs.

Thank you to ALL of our players and to our generous sponsor, Converse.

More photos can be seen on our Facebook page!

Stephen Elliott at 826NYC!

Posted on December 15, 2009

Please join us on Wednesday, January 20th, at 7pm for a special lecture, reading, and Q&A with Stephen Elliott, author of The Adderall Diaries.

The Adderall Diaries is Stephen Elliott's first memoir but his seventh book, all of them written from personal experience. This 90-minute talk and reading will focus on the generation of memoir, using the author's recent book, The Adderall Diaries, as a jumping off point for discussing the process of figuring out your story and editing it into something someone would want to read.

Admission is $25 - the price of the book! - and includes a copy.

Purchase your ticket here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/92890

A Holiday Benefit, Vol III

Posted on December 12, 2009

We are so grateful to A Holiday Benefit for creating a third album and performance to benefit 826NYC! This year's album features Chris Abad, Bryan Dunn, Chris Cubeta, Emily Easterly, Andy Mac, Martin Rivas, Ruby Rivers, Bess Rogers, Amber Rubarth, Casey Shea, Paula Valstein, Benjamin Wagner and Emily Zuzik! Please visit www.aholidaybenefit.org for updates about the album. And mark your calendars for their one-night-only performance!

"A Holiday Benefit, Vol. III"
Wednesday, December 16th 8-11pm
Pianos (158 Ludlow Street, New York)

Villains at the Superhero Store?

Posted on November 07, 2009

It's a rare occasion that the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. closes down on a Sunday morning. But last week, staff made way for a rare visit from Brooklyn's most evil villains - Humungasaur, The Transporter, The Airborne Trooper, Jessica, Spinner, Ghostly, Freak Show, Sucker Wolf, Lord Darkness, Lightning Storm, Slimy Legs, and Royal Darkness.

Sucker Wolf, whose favorite crime is sucking blood and eating meat, is pictured here, preparing for her big-screen debut.

And what were these villains doing in a superhero store? Filming their feature for a special edition of Villainy Fair. While we normally would not stop superhero sales for villain fanfare, we just couldn't turn away a group of villains interested in writing, of all things!

Special thanks to volunteers Elaine Palucki, Ballard Boyd, and Joe Miles, who went out on a limb and gave these villains a chance.

Thank You Wild Things!!!

Posted on October 15, 2009

Thank you to everyone that attended last night’s preview screening of Where the Wild Things Are! It was a wonderful night filled with laughter, enjoyment, and a few tears while we all re-experienced this fantastic and timeless story.

A special thanks also goes out to Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers, Catherine Keener, Max Records, Karen O, puppeteer Angus, and John Hodgman whose presence made the evening unforgettable.

Another thank you goes out to our sponsors, Thomson Shore and SPIN Magazine as well as Whiskey Park, the venue for our VIP Reception and the great folks at Warner Brothers for helping us pull this together!