“Stern curates the most vital authors’ series in NYC” – Time Out NY

The Happy Ending Music & Reading Series, founded by the writer Amanda Stern in 2003, is a cultural program designed to highlight the personality behind creative artists by requiring them to take public risks on stage, while an artist live-draws the show, and projects the results on screen. Happy Ending has managed to circumvent the usual pitfalls of literary readings by carving out a unique space for cross-disciplinary exchange that reaches a broad audience. This New York City Institution has welcomed over 700 writers and artists. Previous guests include Lena Dunham, Zadie Smith, Laurie Anderson, Aimee Mann, Moby, Colson Whitehead, Vampire Weekend and Sarah Jones. Stern curates, produces, and hosts Happy Ending.

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About

“A perennially killer event” – The Village Voice In 2003, in preparation for her debut novel THE LONG HAUL, native New Yorker Amanda Stern approached local bars and asked about readings. Happy Ending, a Chinatown “massage parlor” turned bar, offered Stern their space for a series of her own. “There’s simply no reading series better…

Past Shows

THIS MESS WILL BE FIXED SOON. Past Seasons 2014 SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 theme: Situations & Circumstances Zadie Smith Leslie Jamison Matthew Thomas Musical guest: Emily Wells Live drawing: Edwina White NOVEMBER 21st, 2012 theme: Home Marie-Helene Bertino Vanessa Veselka Zadie Smith Musical guest: Sondre Lerche Live drawing: Edwina White OCTOBER 3rd, 2012 in association…

The Next Show

Amanda’s work…has made her central to the literary scene in America’s greatest literary city.” – Charles McNair, Paste Magazine Chosen by New York Magazine, The Village Voice and NY Press as the best reading series in NYC, and singled out by the New York Times Magazine for helping to “Keep downtown, NY alive,” The Happy…