BY SAJIDA AYYUP
This week will mark 80 years of Catwoman! To celebrate this anniversary DC Comics will be releasing a special 100-page issue on June 2, 2020. Whether it’s exploring her formative days in Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale, screaming Batman’s proposal response in Batman #24, or rewatching Tim Burton‘s Batman Returns (1992) for Michelle Pfeiffer‘s definition of this feline anti-superheroine, C-19 will not halt our celebration. Before you revisit Selina Kyle’s timeline, here’s another round-up of socially distanced activities you can delve into this week.
§ Taika Waititi has been hosting a fundraiser series for Partners in Health’s StopCovid initiative on Youtube. Each episode features notable faces like Meryl Streep, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mindy Kaling and more playing characters from Roald Dahl‘s James and the Giant Peach. The last two episodes will air this Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. EST. Watch the first installment featuring Chris Hemsworth, Liam Hemsworth and Nick Kroll below, and join this peachful (apologies for this opportunity that couldn’t be missed) cause!
§ Summer calls for fresh books! To celebrate the June Audiobook Month, the fantastic folks at American Library Association will be hosting a panel discussion, with guests from Booklist, ECW Press and Naxos AudioBooks and L.A. Theatre Works, via Zoom this Friday at 2 p.m. EST to talk about audiobooks and their picks for Summer.
Mark your calendars for Friday, June 5th! Celebrate the start of Audiobook Month with @ALA_Booklist, and special guests @NaxosAudioBooks, @ecwpress, @LATheatreWorks, and more!
Sign up for this free webinar here: https://t.co/2DvsuYCyVv pic.twitter.com/OOLGAQQruJ
— Naxos Records (@naxosrecords) May 31, 2020
§ Speaking of audiobooks, the Wizarding World is gathering Dumbledore’s Army on Spotify to bring back the magic. Updated daily, you can now listen to chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone on the music app or watch their visual counterparts on the Wizarding World website as a part of its “Harry Potter at Home” initiative!
Here‘s the first chapter read by The Chosen One himself, Daniel Radcliffe.
§ More books! Book festivals will never go out of style, in person or virtually. With the pandemic striking off every Con and Lit fest this year, most of them have turned virtual. The Bronx is Reading is another book festival that was slated to kick-start on June 6, 2020, but the team quickly switched gears to bring the event online, and is ready to welcome people from everywhere now. Check the full list of authors like Leah Johnson (author of You Should See Me in a Crown), Ellen Oh (author of Dragon Egg Princess) and more here.
§ Working from home has one major benefit: you get to attend happy hours in pajamas. Is there anything better than that feeling? You might want to stop by We Love Bookstores’ Poetry Cocktail Hour featuring Amber Tamblyn (author of Dark Sparkler), Alejandro Murguia (author of This War called Love) and Stephanie Burt (author of Close Calls with Nonsense), to name a few. Join this free event, being held next Friday, June 12th, and help Bay area bookstores remain in business by donating at your will. Their goal for the day is $2000!
That’s all for today, folks! Staying at home now more than ever will leave a massive impact on our lives in the upcoming months— we’re almost there! Until then, socially distanced events shall be at your service. Visit later for updates!
