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Literary Places

This database of writerly destinations—places writers can visit for inspiration, to promote their writing, for research, and to discover community—includes historical sites, reading venues, literary collections, writing centers, and writers spaces. Save your selections to My P&W and populate a personal Google Map that can be used to plan reading tours and visits to literary meccas, or just to keep track of your favorite literary locales.

  • New York, NY

    192 Books is a general interest bookstore in the Chelsea neighborhood featuring recent titles and past best-sellers, as well as selected rare and out-of-print books, on a variety of subjects, including literary fiction, art and photography,...

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  • New York, NY

    Since 1939, the 92Y Unterberg Poetry Center has given audiences a chance to hear writers in every literary genre offering frequent talks and events throughout the year.

  • New York, NY

    Aeon Bookshop is an independent bookseller in Manhattan specializing in literature, art, philosophy, the occult, and music. The shop carries both used and new titles and is open Wednesday through Sunday, 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

  • New York, NY

    Alabaster Bookshop is the last of the secondhand bookstores that once lined Fourth Avenue. Just around the corner from the Strand, this bookshop is much smaller and more affordable, with trade paperbacks sold at half the cover price and two...

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  • New York, NY

    A project of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, this bookshop focuses on books in French and English, with more than fourteen thousand contemporary and classic titles from thirty French-speaking countries. Throughout the year, Albertine...

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  • New York, NY

    Argosy Book Store has been in business for eighty-nine years, making it New York City’s oldest independent book store. Now in its third generation of family ownership, Argosy has an extensive stock of antiquarian and out-of-print items. The store...

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  • New York, NY

    The Segue Foundation hosts the experimental reading series Segue at Artists Space, a continuation of the legendary series that has run for over twenty-five years. Readings feature contemporary poets and writers and take place on Saturday...

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  • New York, NY

    Established in 1991, AAWW is a national nonprofit arts organization devoted to the creating, publishing, developing, and disseminating of creative writing by Asian Americans. The organization hosts a New York City events series featuring author...

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  • New York, NY

    B&B Rare Books specializes in eighteenth to twentieth-century American, British, and French literature, modern first editions, poetry, mystery and detective fiction, children's literature, and signed and inscribed books. After graduating from...

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  • New York, NY

    This Barnes & Noble bookstore located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan features a wide selection of books and a café. It is open seven days a week: Monday through Thursday from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Friday and Saturday from 9:00 AM to 9:00...

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  • Brooklyn, NY
    Storefront of Barnes and Noble on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.

    This Barnes & Noble bookstore is located in Downtown Brooklyn and features a wide selection of books and a toys and games department. This location is open seven days a week: Monday through Saturday from 9:00AM to 8:00PM, Sunday from 10:00AM...

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  • New York, NY

    Open seven days a week, this location includes a café and has frequent events with authors, celebrities, and musicians. Along with a wide selection of books, there is also a department for toys and games as well as vinyl records.

  • New York, NY

    This Barnes & Noble bookstore is located in Union Square in Manhattan and its four floors include a wide selection of books as well as toys and games, vinyl records, a café, and a printer for print-on-demand books. This location hosts...

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  • New York, NY
    Barnes and Noble Upper East Side storefront

    This Barnes & Noble bookstore on the Upper East Side at 87th Street and Third Avenue opened in 2023 after a previous larger location in the same neighborhood closed. This intimate small shop is open seven days a week and hosts author events...

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  • New York, NY

    Bauman Rare Books was first housed in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, then moved to Madison Avenue between 54th and 55th Streets in 2008. The shop has a constantly changing display of over four thousand books and documents in a wide range...

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  • Brooklyn, NY

    Berl's Brooklyn Poetry Shop is New York’s only all poetry bookstore. They sell poetry books and chapbooks, celebrate art, creativity, performance, and the handmade, and are a partner to many small presses local to Brooklyn, around the country,...

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  • New York, NY

    Bluestockings Cooperative is a worker-owned community space and bookstore in the Lower East Side of Manhattan guided by the principles of abolition feminism, solidarity, and transformative justice practices. The store carries over 6,000 titles of...

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  • New York, NY

    With the strong support of the Morningside Heights community and the faculty and administration of Columbia University, Book Culture is a true community bookstore. Founded in 1997, the store features new and classic fiction and nonfiction,...

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  • New York, NY

    With the strong support of the Morningside Heights community and the faculty and administration of Columbia University, Book Culture is a true community bookstore. Founded in 1997, the store features new and classic fiction and nonfiction,...

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  • Brooklyn, NY

    The BookMark Shoppe was originally located in Dyker Heights before moving to the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn. Owned and operated by Christine Freglette and Bina Valenzano, who have been friends since junior high school, this independent...

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  • Brooklyn, NY

    Located in Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, the second location of Books Are Magic opened in 2022. Owned by Emma Straub and Michael Fusco-Straub, the independent community bookstore sells a variety of books, including best-...

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  • Brooklyn, NY

    Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, is owned by author Emma Straub and her husband Michael Fusco-Straub. The bookstore sells everything from best-sellers to a wide selection of kids’ books to...

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  • New York, NY

    Books of Wonder opened on September 2, 1980, as a bookshop specializing in antique children’s books. Today, the shop stocks new titles as well as beloved classics and still has a large selection of old, rare, and collectible children's books....

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  • New York, NY

    Bowery Poetry is home to poets, writers, and artists of diverse talents and skill sets. The venue is run by Bowery Arts + Science, a nonprofit organization that encourages cooperation and advancement among artists and cultural workers, aims to ...

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  • Bronx, NY

    The Bronx Museum of the Arts is an internationally recognized cultural destination that presents innovative contemporary art exhibitions and education programs and is committed to promoting cross-cultural dialogues for diverse audiences. Since...

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