Welcome to The Hottest Literati Every month, we choose one cool artist from anywhere in the world to highlight and to support. The August 2026 Hottest Literati is... Chris Jesu Lee He is a... New York-based writer and lawyer, who is currently revising his first novel. He writes regularly on his Substack, Salieri Redemption, and has been published in The Believer, The Cleveland Review of Books, Current Affairs, and The Metropolitan Review. What's coming this month Next week, w

On Tuesday, July 21st Hot Literati Member and writer Marissa Vivian lead our New York Chapter through Anaïs Nin Night. Hot Literatis never flake It was a crazy day in New York, as a storm broke and we all got notifications of a tornado warning! But still, we gathered as a group to celebrate life, literature, and Hot Literati. Part One First, everyone trickled in LES Wines on Ludlow street and we checked them in. Attendees were each given a bottle of Les Cahiers Secrets-- a sc

On July 18th, 2026 I, hailo, went to a literary party. As I write this, I am drinking coffee on the couch and intermittently reading The Idiot. I'm on page 407. The New Critic is a literary magazine founded by some recent Ivy League grads looking to create a space where Gen Z can write anything, unfiltered. They rented a really beautiful space south of Seward Park and gathered a room of their subscribers for a night of music and an open bar. I went, saw a couple of friends, a

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

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