that that: A Bookstore Program
This year’s opening program, that that, transforms CARA into an expanded bookstore environment. In the weeks preceding our spring exhibition of the Martinican poet and philosopher Édouard Glissant’s (1928–2011) personal art collection, we present a series of book launches, readings, and conversations shaped by the poetic force that animates Glissant’s chapter “That That” in his book Poetics of Relation.
Glissant encourages readers to understand connection as something formed through ongoing encounters across people, places, and histories. Deepening our collective study, the bookstore gathers a constellation of publications alongside a series of events engaging different facets of relation.
Thursday, January 22 | Reading and Conversation
Considering Barbadian poet Kamau Brathwaite’s (1930–2020) “Sycorax video style,” Gerardo Ismael Madera and Bryce Wilner explore the interplay of the poet’s sonic and typographic transformation of the printed page. Details and RSVP.
Saturday, January 24 | Reading Group and Performance
A Grammar Built with Rocks (Wendy’s Subway, 2025) examines how artistic practices respond to ecological and social upheaval, asking what new forms of being-together emerge under pressure. Details and RSVP.
Thursday, February 5 | Poetry Reading
The bilingual anthology 45-120 (Juf, 2025) considers personal space as something negotiated rather than fixed, inviting artists and poets to reflect on intimacy and proximity. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Sunday, February 8 | Poetry Reading
Nazareth Hassan’s Slow mania (Futurepoem, 2025) offers a sensory, form-shifting atmosphere, attending to slowness, collective listening, and tactile poetics that invite readers to linger in texture and sound. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Saturday, February 14 | Collective Listening and Reading
Artist and musician Lamin Fofana leads this reading-as-listening gathering that engages African diasporic writers from the Caribbean. Text fragments are dispersed among listeners who read aloud together, activating the space through voice, rhythm, and presence. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Our shelves and tables of books are not a map but an ongoing conversation. We understand publishing, writing, and reading as practices that generate a shared poetic force.
Relation is our method.
that that is curated by Emmy Catedral, Bookstore Director.
Programs are free and open to all with RSVP encouraged.
Please note that your RSVP does not guarantee entry. Admission is on a first come, first served basis (even for those who have registered) and will be limited to the capacity of the venue. We encourage RSVPs to gauge interest in our programs. Kindly note that you are welcome to leave after the walkthrough or join only for the conversation.
We ask that visitors stay home if they are feeling sick or have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days. Testing before joining us at CARA is recommended. Masks will be available for free.
The closest wheelchair accessible subway is the 14th Street/8th Avenue station. The entrance to CARA is ADA-compliant, and our bookstore and galleries are barrier free throughout, with all-gender, wheelchair accessible restrooms. CARA has wheelchairs available for guest use. Please request one in advance via bookstore@cara-nyc.org. Service animals are welcome.
