What Was that Noise Inside the New York Public Library?

Forget about a night at the museum, on June 13 the real after-hours action was at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, where the 19th annual Young Lions Fiction Award was being presented. The evening was hosted by Isaac Fitzgerald, and five finalists for the prize-Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Nick Drnaso, Akwaeke Emezi, Ling Ma, and Laura van den Berg-were in attendance along with actors Anna Chlumsky, Ali Ewoldt, Pooch Hall, Jelani Alladin, and Delissa Reynolds, who read from their work. Ma, the author of Severance, took home the prize, and after the ceremony, the crowd moved on to the NYPL’s Astor Hall, where cocktails were served and dancing commenced.