Skip to Main Content
New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

Books

Historian and NYU curator Hugh Ryan. His new book, "When Brooklyn Was Queer," works to uncover the erased queer history of the borough. (Staff Photo by Alana Beyer)

‘When Brooklyn Was Queer’ Uncovers the Borough’s Buried History

NYU contributing curator Hugh Ryan talks his new projects, including a book on the queer history of Brooklyn and two exhibitions on the same subject.
Aashna Agarwal, Staff Writer April 21, 2019

What started as a pop-up museum in part-time NYU curator Hugh Ryan’s Bushwick loft eventually transformed into a quest to uncover Brooklyn’s queer history. The pop-up was expected...

Book cover of It's Kind of a Funny Story. (via Hyperion)

Unpopular Opinions: Young Adult Novels

The Arts Desk gives some fresh takes on novels for younger audiences.
Guru Ramanathan, Dante Sacco and Alex Cullina April 9, 2019

A new young adult novel adaptation, “After,” hits theaters this weekend, and for once it’s not based on a book by John Green or Nicholas Sparks. But instead of needlessly...

The Fusion Film Festival. (via Facebook)

A Starving Artist’s Guide to Arts Events This Weekend: April 4 to 7

Stay entertained this weekend for $20 or less.
Alex Cullina, Theater & Books Editor April 4, 2019

Midterms are done with, and finals are still a ways away — or so I’d like to think. Why not enjoy the mid-semester lull — and the beautiful weather — by checking out one...

Activists Marcella Gilbert (Oohenumpa and Ihanktowan Bands of the Lakota and Dakota nations) and Madonna Thunder Hawk (Oohenumpa Lakota, enrolled citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe), in the documentary "Warrior Women." (Photo by John G. Larson, courtesy of NMAI)

A Starving Artist’s Guide to Arts Events This Weekend: March 28 to 31

Stay entertained this weekend for $20 or less.
Alex Cullina, Books & Theater Editor March 27, 2019

Spring has finally sprung, people! This is not a drill! Go outside and do stuff! Steinhardt’s “Opera Now: Three to See” at Provincetown Playhouse, March 28 - 31 Come...

Cover art for "Season of Migration to the North" by Tayeb Salih. (via Facebook)

Staff Recs: Books We Should Have Read in High School

If you hated your high school humanities classes, the Arts Desk is here to give recs so that you can redo your education the right way.

“Romeo and Juliet.” “The Catcher in the Rye.” Ernest Hemingway. Jane Austen. Classic titles and names that filled our high school syllabi and glazed our eyes over. But...

Movie poster for Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019). (via Warner Bros. Pictures)

Unpopular Opinions: Children’s Book Series

In honor of the new Nancy Drew movie coming out, the Arts Desk is giving its hot takes on children’s book series.

If you weren’t already aware, “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase” is coming out this week. Since it’s based on the popular children’s book series, the Arts Desk is...

Book cover for "Educated" (via Facebook)

Five Books by and About Women for International Women’s Day

If you’re looking for books that offer both realistic and dynamic depictions of women this March, here are some memoirs, novels and poetry collections that do just that.
Aashna Agarwal, Staff Writer March 8, 2019

Beyond the Bechdel Test, I’ve found that my standards for gender equality in books are basically nonexistent. In honor of International Women’s Day, here are five refreshing...

Suggestions for Non-Cheesy Valentine’s Day Reads

Suggestions for Non-Cheesy Valentine’s Day Reads

If you’re looking for an alternative to Nicholas Sparks this February, here are some novels and short story collections that recognize love as the strange and idiosyncratic thing it is.
Julie Goldberg, Staff Writer February 13, 2019

Tolstoy wrote that “All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.” As Valentine’s Day approaches, many of us may find ourselves, happily or begrudgingly,...

Terrance Hayes, poet and NYU professor, gave a reading at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writing House last Thursday. (Courtesy of the MacArthur Foundation)

Terrance Hayes Talks Trump, Teaching at NYU

At the Lillian Vernon Creative Writing House, the award-winning poet and NYU professor read published and unpublished work from a series he started after the 2016 election.
Alex Cullina, Books & Theater Editor February 4, 2019

Terrance Hayes, the acclaimed poet and NYU Creative Writing professor, came to NYU’s Lillian Vernon Creative Writing House on Thursday for a discussion and reading of some of...

From left to right, Christopher Soto, Saeed Jones and Pamela Sneed at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House. (Photo by Alex Cullina)

The Poets Behind the First Queer POC Anthology

Three queer poets of color talked the role of poetry at an event at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, while celebrating the release of the new anthology, “Nepantla.”
1QA@OLP;.-}", Books & Theater Editor October 29, 2018
Three queer poets of color talked the role of poetry at an event at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, while celebrating the release of the new anthology, “Nepantla.”
Unpopular Opinions: 20th Century Authors

Unpopular Opinions: 20th Century Authors

The 20th century birthed a plethora of renowned authors, some overrated and some underrated. This week, the Arts Desk tackles Unpopular Opinions: 20th Century Authors.
Tayari Jones (Left) and Darin Strauss (Right) engaged in discussion. (Photo by Claire Fishman)

‘An American Marriage’ and a Distinctly American Writer

Claire Fishman, Contributing Writer October 9, 2018
Acclaimed novelist Tayari Jones visited the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House to discuss her new book "An American Marriage" and her writing process.