Glamour and books don’t often converge, but forty years ago they did so at Rizzoli, one of New York City’s greatest bookstores: and no one is better equipped to celebrate that time and place than Felice Picano, a founding member of the Violet Quill and recipient of the Lambda Literary Foundation’s Pioneer Award (and former Rizzoli manager). With his forthcoming memoir, Nights at Rizzoli, Felice Picano takes us back to New York as it was when the legendary bookstore was a meeting place for intellectuals, celebrities, artists and assorted hangers-on. Then an aspiring writer in a post-Stonewall New York, Picano recounts his days rubbing shoulders with the city’s celebrities at Rizzoli and nights bumping into them in seedier venues downtown.

Join us on November 12th to celebrate the publication of Nights at Rizzoli. Felice will read from his book, followed by a Q&A. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and refreshments will be available.

Felice Picano, poet, novelist, playwright, critic and publisher, was a founding member of the Violet Quill, a pioneering group of gay male writers in the 1980s. Recipient of many awards and citations, he received the Lambda Literary Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 2010, and the City of West Hollywood’s Rainbow Award and Citation in 2013.