On Tuesday, June 9th we gathered 20 Hot Literati at LES Wine on the Lower East Side to discuss Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, and life. Steven's Russian Space Dog Necklace Each group put together their own take on Lolita as a love story, a horror story, and/or a comedy. Here's what they said: Our collective intellectual work "The themes of Lolita seem overtly romantic, and those overtones paired with H.H’s position as the narrator and Nabokov's witty, immensely detailed writing st

It's May. One of those balmy days, quite warm with raindrops speckled throughout the day. I'm walking down Orchard St, coming up from Grand and I see him, sitting outside. Erwin, with his strong, kind face, looking down at his phone. So I sneak up really quiet and drop into the chair in front of him. "Hello!" I say. He laughs. I laugh... "You know, I always remember you," he says, taking off his phone case to reveal a Hot Literati sticker. We grow up in a lot of places. If we

On Tuesday, June 2nd... We gathered a room of 20 Hot Literati at LES Wine on Ludlow Street to discuss Joan Didion. We split into three groups and each one was tasked with creating their own Joan Didion character set In 2026. Read them all and then vote on your favorite one: Group One Claudia is riding the subway to her thesis defense, riding the J train from her boyfriend’s bedstuy studio apartment. She’s been in love with him for approximately 30 of the 1,825 days she’s been