In the September 2020 edition of "Best of Boston," we bring you our top Boston lit events this month, taking place virtually. See below for our list of local literary happenings.

Virtual Event: Henri Cole

Tuesday, September 1st at 7:00 PM | Event Fee: $0 ($3 contribution suggested)

Friday, August 21st at 7:00 PM

Harvard Book Store and GrubStreet welcome author Shruti Swamy for a virtual discussion of her debut short story collection, A House Is a Body. She will be joined in conversation by Megha Majumdar, author of the widely acclaimed novel, A Burning. For more details and to register, click here.

About A House Is a Body

Dreams collide with reality, modernity with antiquity, and myth with identity in the twelve arresting stories of A House Is a Body. In “Earthly Pleasures,” a young painter …

Thursday, August 20th at 7:00 PM

Harvard Book Store and GrubStreet welcome author Daniel Hornsby for a virtual discussion of his debut novel, Via Negativa. He will be joined in conversation by acclaimed author Andrew Martin, author of the story collection Cool for America

I'm amazed by writers who stop reading in their genre while writing their own books. The majority of them seem to be worried about becoming overly influenced by the voice, themes and even plot of the book they're reading.

Personally, I can't imagine not reading fiction for the many years it takes me to complete a novel. And in terms of being influenced: I'm actively looking for inspiration and ideas. I want to be influenced.

By Katrin Schumann

For those of you reading this who haven't yet published your first book, I'm sure you've dreamed about your book launch. You'll have thought about whether to go big or small, have it at a bookstore, in an event space, bar or library, and who you hope might turn up (maybe even local media!). 

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about launches - both the launch event itself and the "book tour" that happens afterwards. They're a bit like the three martini lunch which used to be common practice and underwritten by your employer, but not so much anymore. …