Abigail Savitch-Lew

Dear friends,

My first big update is that Manny, my sister-in-law, and I are moving to Queens in October, which, if you are a nearly-lifelong-Brooklynite, feels like a major uprooting. We have so far discovered that while Queens residents (Queensites? Queenites?? Queenies???) enjoy teasing us Brooklynites, they may be, on the whole, friendlier than us, or perhaps they come to the sidewalk with less baggage? Theory still in development here…email me if you have opinions.

From Queens, I’ll be taking off to California, then Massachusetts, for the events below. Please spread the word among your West Coast friends and relatives!

TUESDAY OCT 13, 2026, 6 PM • MAR VISTA, LA –  a private book party at the home of friends, in conversation with acclaimed LA writer and journalist Erin Aubry Kaplan, the author of Black Talk, Blue Thoughts, and Walking the Color Line. Email me for the party address!

WEDNESDAY OCT 14, 2026, 7 PM • WEST HOLLYWOOD, LA – A reading at Book Soup in conversation with EMDASH, a writer of intoxicating poetry and prose (and a dear friend from my Rutgers MFA program).

FRIDAY OCT 16, 2026, 5:30 pm • SAN FRANCISCO CHINATOWN – I’ll be reading at On Waverly with the visionary Akemi Kochiyama-Ladson, a scholar-activist, community builder, and the granddaughter of Yuri Kochiyama

SATURDAY OCT 17, 2026, 2 pm • CONCORD, MA – Concord Festival of Authors Debut Author’s Panel: I’ll be in conversation with fellow writers Laura Garden and Meghana Mysore, on a panel moderated by writer-in-residence Danielle Bradley.

And, in case you missed it:
I have two events later this September:

MONDAY SEPT 28, 2026, 7 PM • BROOKLYN – A kooky event at Someday Bar with fellow authors Hannah Lillith Assadi and Kerri Schlottman. Learn more & RSVP. I’m half-way through Hannah’s Paradiso 17, a lyrical novel following the life of a Palestinian man after he is displaced by the 1948 Nakba. It’s a must-read.

TUESDAY SEPT 29, 2026, 7:30 pm • NEW YORK, NY – at Hunter College, in conversation with the non-fiction author Sam Stein, whose stunning new book A Right to Housing? releases this week. RSVP here.

INTERVIEWS

I had a blast talking with Author Vanessa Chan on The Write Reasons podcast; watch the video interview on Youtube. Vanessa Chan is the author of the gripping novel The Storm We Made, which plunged me into early 20th-century Malaysia.

Let me know if you’ll make it to an event! Let me know what you’re reading and thinking about! And thank you, always, for the love & support.

-abby

PS. To buy Livonia Chow Mein, I recommend placing an order at your local independent bookstore. You can also check out the list of major distributors here.