BY SAJIDA AYYUP
“Houston, we are doing okay,” said the astronaut.
Then he woke up with the unobstructed flow of time into reality just as he left it. We all wake up every morning, some with comparatively lower levels of enthusiasm than the others, some with high volumes of doubt, and the rest with an average acceptance of the ‘new normal.’ Until we see light at the end of the tunnel, here are some match-sticks to burn your time (apologies for that pun).
§ The New York Public Library is hosting a LIVE reading of Coraline by its author Neil Gaiman from May 12-13, followed by actor LeVar Burton on May 14-15, actor Rosario Dawson from May 16-17 and actor Dakota Fanning on May 18. Register here!
§ Attend the world’s first pandemic-driven literary festival ‘Together-Remotely’ that’s picking up the mess that 2020 is. This online event covers international authors along with well-known people like Polly Samson, Peter Walsh, Luke Davies and more. Each session, inclusive of LIVE Q&A, costs $15 AUD; check out the full itinerary here
§ How about a free streaming screening of John Wick this Friday (May 8 at 6pm ET)? IGN partnered with Lionsgate to provide financial support to theater employees who have been directly affected because of COVID-19 (via Will Rogers Motion Pictures Pioneers Foundation). The screening is free but viewers will be able to donate as per liking during the run-time of the film
§ For new authors who found themselves cancelling book tours and launch parties this year, a Facebook group called ‘Writers Go Forth. Launch. Promote. Party.’ is the perfect place to unleash their energy! It’s a public group of over 2k avid book hunters, vigorously looking for new books to devour and new friends to make. Some of the titles that have partied here are Where The Truth Lies by Karina Kilmore, Cutting the Cord by Natasha Molt, and In the Time of Foxes by Jo Lennan
§ Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff will be talking about their new book Aurora Burning and answering fan questions via Facebook LIVE on May 8 at 8pm (UTC+10).
§ ComiXology continues to offer free comics for you to read in your spare time this weekend (Don’t forget to check out The Beat’s weekend reading list to see what the team is reading)! Let’s see what they’ve got: Elvira: The Shape of Evira #1, Army of Darkness/Xena: Forever… And a Day #1 and more here!
§ Watch three episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series along with Marvel’s New Media VP Ryan Penagos and Broadway actor James Monroe Iglehart LIVE!
§ Some more Zoom backgrounds from Marvel are available for you to impress fellow meeting attendees with here.
§ Comic Cons across Canada and other events bringing readers under one roof are not entirely dead. The organizers of TCAF have launched CanCAF, a month-long virtual comics festival. Head over to the event’s website for more details!
Keep checking back for updates!
