📚️✍️ The NYS Writers Institute's fall season starts today

Today in The 518

• NYS Writers Institute’s fall season starts today 📚️

• All-you-can-eat sushi, lobster and crab? Where?! 🍣 

• Three county fairs, Scottish Games and a mini-reggae fest kick off a super-packed Labor Day weekend 🎡 

NYS Writers Institute launches fall season in a fraught moment

We are a country deeply divided, fractured into tribal camps screaming past each other about climate change, gun violence, income inequality and so many other political flashpoints.

In this charged moment, what can inspire social good and meaningful dialogue?

More than ever, it’s exceptional writers and books, says Paul Grondahl, the Opalka Endowed Director of the New York State Writers Institute.

“Literature can really be a healing, enlightening, inspirational force,” said Grondahl, during an interview in his office on the UAlbany campus.

Since 1983, the institute has celebrated authors and the craft of writing with dozens of events held throughout the year. But when Grondahl took the helm in 2017, the organization seemed a bit “musty” with a “rarified air” that intimidated some people. The former Times Union reporter sought to “open the windows” and invite in a greater variety of writers, from all kinds of fields and disciplines.

UAlbany “is possibly the most diverse, Tier 1 research university in the country,” said assistant director Mark Koplik. “So, we do see it as our mission to represent that diversity in all forms.”

The institute’s events aren’t stuffy affairs anymore. They are engaging conversations with some of the brightest and most interesting people to ever set foot in the Capital District, including Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winners, scientists, journalists and acclaimed novelists. Among them is Albany’s literary legend, William Kennedy, who at 96 still shows up at the institute he founded four decades ago.

The fall season begins today with a conversation with Hannah Lillith Assadi, whose second novel, The Stars Are Not Yet Bells, tells the story of an elderly woman who confronts a lifetime of secrets. It was named a “Best Book of the Year” by The New Yorker and NPR. The event starts at 4:30 pm at UAlbany’s Campus Center. Details here.

Other highlights include:

• Bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian (Sept. 10)

• The 7th annual Albany Book Festival (Sept. 21)

• Nobel Prize winner in chemistry Thomas Cech (Oct. 24)

• Acclaimed author Edwidge Danticat (Oct. 29)

• 2022 Pulitzer Prize in fiction winner Joshua Cohen (Nov.12)

• The 6th edition of the Telling the Truth symposium (Nov. 22)

Check the website for the full schedule of events. And as Grondahl notes in his introduction, let’s “counteract despair” by leaning into “a refuge of artful writing.”

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” —Toni Morrison, in her 1993 Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

It’s looking like gorgeous end-of-summer weather for Labor Day!

🎡 🌭 BEST BETS: TOP 5 WEEKEND EVENTS

⭐️ Capital District Scottish Games | Sat. $24, 12 and under free. Yer a long time deid, so break out the kilts and go have a great time at the Altamont Fairgrounds!

⭐️ Empire Strips Back | Thur-Sun. Tickets start at $39. It’s Star Wars like you’ve never seen it. Get your bawdy burlesque on at The Egg. 

⭐️ County Fairs | It wouldn’t be summer without a trip to the fair. Schaghticoke, Fonda and Columbia County all have their respective fairs going on through Labor Day. Be sure to check our Guide to the Capital District’s County Fairs to make the most of your visit.

⭐️ Adirondack Independence Music Festival |  Fri-Sun, $75 and up. Take in Labor Day weekend with great music at the beautiful Charles R. Wood Park in Lake George.

⭐️ Reggae Sunset | 5-9p, food until 7p, Fri, free. Reggae, ska and rocksteady paired with Jamaican food and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, plus an evening screening of Bob Marley: One Love. Schenectady’s Music Haven Concert series has all the love.

MORE NOTABLE EVENTS

TODAY

Beers, Bikes and Barges | 6-8pm, $20. Tour Troy’s neighborhoods and canals by bike, and end with beers on the deck overlooking the Hudson at Brown’s Brewery.

Watervliet Summer Concert Series | 6-8p, free. The Whiskey River Band closes out the season.

FRIDAY

Troy Night Out | Shops stay open late and the streets are packed for Troy’s monthly community night out.

Central Park Field Day | 12-3p, free. Schenectady’s Central Park hosts a day of games for kids of all ages. Expect lawn games, basketball, wiffleball, kickball, badminton, arts & crafts, and toddler activities.

Big Sky Country | All evening, no cover before 7pm. Frog Alley Brewing Co.

SATURDAY

Run 4 the River Half Marathon | Starts at 8a, $90 for day-off entry. Run along the Hudson River and finish with a killer post-race party at Frog Alley Brewing Co.

Closing Weekend at Saratoga Race Course | Sat-Mon. Featuring a pair of Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” events. Btw, the NHL Stanley Cup will be at the race track on Saturday for photo ops 🏒 🏆️ 

Bethlehem Neighbors: Labor Day Weekend Jazz Concert | 12:30-2:30p, free. The 3rd annual jazz concert with the Linda Brown Jazz Project ends with an ice cream social. Bring a picnic lunch!

Twilight Tour at North Bridge Run | 6pm, $100 for two; $180 for four. Experience the magic of the Adirondacks in the evening on this guided rail bike adventure.

Garlic Town | 10a-5p, $5-30. Downtown Bennington, Vermont, will transform into Garlic Town, USA in celebration of all things garlic!

Washington Park Farmer’s Market | 10a-2p, free yoga 9-10a. TBH, this is the best location for a farmer’s market in the Capital District.

Rob Schneider  | Sat and Sun, show times vary, $42. The super funny fellow brings his schtick to Albany’s Funny Bone.

Girls Are Girls, Femme Songwriter’s Night | 6:30-9:30p, $17. Femme songwriters bare their lyrical souls and tug your heartstrings at Mojo’s Cafe and Gallery.

Troy Waterfront Farmers Market | 9a-2p, free. Get to one of the best farmers markets in the country while it’s still outdoors.

SUNDAY

Guilderland Farmer’s Market | 10a-2p, free. Guilderland Public Library.

Albany County Farmers Market | 10a-2p, free. Snap recipients get 2x benefits. Shop the best in produce, flowers and more at the MVP Arena.

Larkin Hi-Fi Record Sale | 5-9p, free. Have an adult beverage and buy some vinyl at a place so retro-hip that it advertises on Craigslist 😁 

MONDAY

Chill out and take some time to appreciate this celebration of the American worker. Go for a hike at Barberville Falls, one of our all-time favorite local waterfalls. Take the kids to the county fair. Or just relax with some beer and burgers on the grill. Happy Labor Day, y’all!