What are you reading?
​Ada Calhoun Edition

A decade after I hosted an author talk for Ada Calhoun and her (then) new book St. Marks is Dead at NYPL's old Mid-Manhattan branch (RIP), I caught up with the prolific writer and East Village native at the 2025 Brattleboro Literary Festival. Her new novel Crush came out in February, and we got a preview of her upcoming mini-tour for it, and afterwards I asked her:

​1. What are you reading, and/or what was the last thing you read? 

I'm reading Emi Nietfield's memoir Acceptance, a powerful story about a girl in foster care who fights like hell to make it into Harvard. I just finished Marcy Dermansky's The Red Car, about a woman going to a funeral and talking to a ghost and having lots of sex. Like Dermansky's more recent hit Hot Air, I found it wild, hot, and funny. I highly recommend both! I also am lucky enough to know both authors and find them exceptionally delightful company, just like their books. ​

Ada Calhoun reading from Crush

2. I know you have spent a lot of time at the New York Public Library's main branch, writing and doing research, and you were actually there when a worker fell and put his feet through the ceiling. Did you also spend a lot of time at the library as a child? Was there a branch that you particularly frequented, and if so what kept drawing you back? Did you have a favorite section or activity?

Yes, a big piece of plaster hit a nearby table and I'm not sure what it says about me that my first thought was not to evacuate but rather to take a photo and notify the NY Post. I work in a smaller room in that building now, as luck would have it—one of the scholar's rooms that you can apply to get into if you have a book contract. I've written several books at the library; it's essential for my life. When I was a child my main library was Jefferson Market and I can still taste my victory in their Summer Reading challenge circa 1982.

​3. At the 2025 Brattleboro Literature Festival you said "Don't pull punches in memoir writing: you never know how people will react." What experience(s) cemented this for you? 

Times when I was sure someone would be mad, they weren't. Other times when I was sure what I'd written was innocuous, someone freaked out. I concluded that it's best to just write it all exactly as you want to, and then start having conversations with people whose opinions you value about how they feel, then decide at that point if you want to adjust the writing in some way in light of that new information. I feel like I'm always surprised by the reactions, and I'm always glad I didn't self-censor in advance. 
 
4. You are a prolific ghost writer, having completed 35 books for others. I won't ask who, but can you tell me how you got into this particular genre of authorship? Any advice for those looking to write for others? 

I had already written one book of my own and had a good time with my editor and publishing house. Another writer of theirs needed help with a project and so I sat with them and helped them get a draft together. It was a real pleasure. To help someone else with the process I think you need to have been through it yourself at least once, and you need to be really clear on the fact that this new project is not yours, that you are the midwife not the mother. You can never be the problem or slow anything down. It helps if you're a good listener, and really enjoy hearing the person talk. It also helps if you see structuring a book as a fun pastime akin to doing a crossword puzzle, which I do.  

​5. Per your book St. Marks is Dead, everyone has their era of St. Marks being THE St. Marks. Having grown up around there, what was your favorite St. Marks haunt and when it closed what did it get replaced with?

I'd say my favorites are still around: B&H, Veselka, East Village Books, Holiday, Blue & Gold, International... I was sad when DiRobertis closed down, but then it got replaced with Black Seed Bagel, which was GREAT. That just closed down. I'm excited to see what it turns into next.