On June 27th, Global City Press celebrated the relaunch of their literary journal, Global City Review, at 100 Grand—the distinctive and spacious sixth floor loft in SoHo, a true relic of SoHo’s glory days. The summer sun had started to set through the windows when the party began, and guests took in the views of the Manhattan skyline. Limited-edition prints of the new issue, appropriately titled Legacies, were made available to contributing donors. Linsey Abrams, the founder of the Global City collective, now Consulting Editor, chatted with many of the contributors to the most recent issue and welcomed guests as they arrived. All members of the collective were present: Amy Veach, Patrice LoCicero, Michelle Yasmine Valladares, Brian Brennan, Taylor Hibma, Susan Haskins-Doloff, and David Puretz. Almost all of the contributors to the issue were also present, including John Bradford, award winning painter, who attended with his daughters. The crowd was a diverse mix of young and old, burgeoning artists and writers alongside the experienced and the acclaimed, all mingling over light snacks and drinks.
At the midpoint of the evening, Linsey Abrams called the room to attention and everyone gathered around several couches in the middle of the space. She spoke about the long history of Global City Press and expressed her immense pride in its new iteration. Several of the members of the collective got up and said their thanks to Linsey and the other members for their hard work and support during the re-launch. Then the Editorial Director, David Puretz, spoke about the hard work involved in relaunching Global City, thanked the collective for all of their efforts, and thanked everyone for coming. He spoke about the future of the press and what’s in store for readers in months and years to come. Then came time for the readings.
Michelle Yasmine Valladares read her poem, “We Hear You—for Women and Girls,” calling out to the young women of the modern world, reassuring them that the world, from the natural forces to the dreaming masses, hears their pain and sympathizes. Then Taylor Hibma read a snippet of his childhood memoir, “A Boy, A Birthday, & Baseball,” in which he recalled the total absorption of his young mind into the topic of baseball, and his memories of the American pastime. Finally, Amy Veach read a portion of her unique and engrossing story, derived from elements of the people she knows and the places she’s been, “Matheran’s Red”: A small glimpse into the hidden world of rural India and one man’s tragic past as he revisits the land of his childhood.
It was a successful evening and a wonderful kick-off for the journey that lay ahead.
-Kesser Frankiel
