Join us for any of the upcoming events listed below!
Hudson Valley Geology for Historians and Poets
Join Scott Craven for a look through a historian’s eye at the unique geology of the Hudson River Valley. Learn about the geological impact on the creation of our nation, the building of the greatest city on earth, and the development of our very own Hudson Valley community.
Meditative Drawing Workshop
Quiet Your Mind, Achieve Clarity, and Feel Refreshed
Meditative Drawing is a guided, accessible practice that combines simple drawing exercises with principles of meditation to help quiet mental noise and restore a sense of calm and focus. This workshop is not about artistic skill or making a “good” drawing—it’s about creating the conditions for the mind to settle and move into quieter layers of thinking that are by nature more blissful, peaceful, and enjoyable. Through structured patterns, repetition, and gentle guidance, participants are led out of overthinking and into a state of relaxed attention, where creativity and clarity naturally emerge.
During the workshop, Marisa Löwenstein will guide participants step by step through a series of meditative drawing exercises designed to support deep rest, presence, and creative flow. All materials will be provided, and no prior drawing or meditation experience is required. Participants often leave feeling more grounded, refreshed, and clear, along with a practical tool they can return to whenever they need to slow down, reset, or reconnect.
This is the third of three sessions to be offered.
Tickets: $20-$30 (sliding scale) per session. Pre-registration required.
Meet Your Facilitator
Marisa Löwenstein is a Creative Director and certified Vedic Meditation teacher with over 15 years of meditation experience. Trained in New York and India, she blends meditation with guided practices such as Meditative Drawing to help people quiet the mind, improve focus, and creative problem-solving. Drawing from her background in design, teaching, and mentorship, Marisa leads thoughtful, practical workshops that support clarity and creative flow. She teaches in English and Spanish and has worked with institutions such as FIT, The High Line, Boston University, and Ralph Lauren.
(s)mother Stories
Celebrate motherhood with stories from the frontline.
If you are a mom, a parent, a caregiver, or someone who simply relates to the overwhelm, come hear stories from the frontline. Funny, poignant, heartfelt, and raw, these are true reflections read by members of the (s)mother Stories collective. Conceived and facilitated by the (s)mother project.
Tickets $10-20, sliding scale. Cash bar.
Author Event: Built for a Better World by Jeffrey Hollender
Join Jeffrey Hollender, author of Built for a Better World and co-founder and former CEO of Seventh Generation, for a conversation about how leadership guided by purpose can drive lasting change for business, humanity, and the planet.
Special Author read-aloud with Joyce Markovics: Huh? Talking Insects
Kids ages 6-10: Listen up. Have you heard the buzz? Humans aren’t the only big talkers out there. Insects also communicate using sound. But what do the sounds mean? Scientists are uncovering the un-BEE-lievable answers—and so will you!
Short Attention Span Book Club
Short on time? No problem! This book club is designed with minimal reading and maximum impact.
Short Attention Span Book Club
Short on time? No problem! This book club is designed with minimal reading and maximum impact.
Jim Martin’s Tire Isle Band
Music While You Shop
Jim Martin, founding member of How to Change a Flat Tire, continues the group’s exploration and love of the music of the British Isles. With Mr. Martin on mandolin, guitar, mandocello, banjo and vocals, Tatayana Gorbunova on flute and the internationally celebrated accordionist Will Holshouser, Martin’s Tire Isle Band celebrates the dance tunes, ballads and Irish Sean-nós tradition of Ireland, Scotland, England and the Hebrides. For more information, the band’s website: Martinmusicdance.com
Free! Donations for the performers gratefully accepted.
Musicambia
Musicambia, where music meets change.
We have a special treat in store for you. Experience the powerful voice and storytelling of Kenyatta Emmanuel, artist, activist, and performer from Sing Sing to Carnegie Hall. Kenyatta will be joined by The Cambia Collective, Musicambia’s band of Teaching Artists and Alumni. Musicambia (“music”+“change”) helps people in prison write, play, and perform music, cultivating collaborative communities that benefit the health and well-being of everyone involved.
Following the musical performance, author Colin Asher be read excerpts from his forthcoming book, The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music (W.W. Norton and Company, June 30, 2026). Copies of Colin’s book will be available for purchase and signing afterward.
This event is free to attend; we will collect donations for Musicambia to continue their extraordinary work changing lives through music.
About Kenyatta Emmanuel
Singer and songwriter Kenyatta Emmanuel Hughes offers song and story to contextualize and reinforce the human reality of our movement. Kenyatta is an artist and activist who has shared his music from Sing Sing to the Carnegie Hall, offering a full live concert the same day of his release after serving 24½ years in prison. Kenyatta collaborated with a range of stakeholders in and out of carceral spaces to impact the world artistically and socially, forming initiatives such as Voices From Within, which serves the children of incarcerated parents. His offering of music and message is consistent from his 2014 TEDx talk, through his presentation at the 2022 International Wellbeing Summit, exploring the beauty of life, love, and the human condition, reminding us of all that we hold in common.
Kenyatta Emmanuel is a teaching artist with Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections program, as well as the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program. He is a Galaxy Leaders Fellow, and is currently developing a curriculum for Racial Justice and Abolition Democracy as an Artist in Residence for the Initiative for a Just Society at Columbia Law School.
About Colin Asher
Colin Asher is the author of The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music. He also wrote Never a Lovely so Real: The Life and Work of Nelson Algren, a literary biography written as a work of creative nonfiction. That book was celebrated in The New York Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New York Times Book Review, among others. It was named “One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2019” by Apple Books, a “Book of the Week” by Publishers Weekly, and an “Editors’ Choice” selection by the New York Times Book Review. Both Publishers Weekly and Booklist gave it starred reviews.
Cambia Collective and Musicambia
The Cambia Collective—Musicambia’s band of Teaching Artists and Alumni—performs music written by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.
Musicambia (“music”+“change”) helps people in prison write, play, and perform music, cultivating collaborative communities that benefit the health and well-being of everyone involved.
Their Flagship Program, which began at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 2014, meets weekly from September to June. Thirty incarcerated participants attend morning and afternoon classes for 4.5 hours, fostering teamwork, empathy, and a sense of responsibility to themselves as well as to their fellow students. Musicambia also has programs at Bedford Hills, Fishkill, and Eastern Correctional Facilities in New York, and in Kansas and California. We annually reach 125 incarcerated participants, as well as audiences of some 220 incarcerated people for concerts. Their Teaching Artists have won GRAMMY awards and collaborated with Pulitzer-Prize winners, and teach at universities including Juilliard, Curtis, Yale, Princeton, and Peabody. In 2026, Musicambia will release their debut album, the Musicambia Songbook. To learn more, visit musicambia.org.
Book Launch: "Tell Me" by Deborah Leipziger, featuring poet Jared Harel
Join us to celebrate the launch of Deborah Leipziger’s newest collection of poetry, Tell Me, featuring poet Jared Harel for a discussion, signing, and Q&A.
Meditative Drawing Workshop
Quiet Your Mind, Achieve Clarity, and Feel Refreshed
Meditative Drawing is a guided, accessible practice that combines simple drawing exercises with principles of meditation to help quiet mental noise and restore a sense of calm and focus. This workshop is not about artistic skill or making a “good” drawing—it’s about creating the conditions for the mind to settle and move into quieter layers of thinking that are by nature more blissful, peaceful, and enjoyable. Through structured patterns, repetition, and gentle guidance, participants are led out of overthinking and into a state of relaxed attention, where creativity and clarity naturally emerge.
During the workshop, Marisa Löwenstein will guide participants step by step through a series of meditative drawing exercises designed to support deep rest, presence, and creative flow. All materials will be provided, and no prior drawing or meditation experience is required. Participants often leave feeling more grounded, refreshed, and clear, along with a practical tool they can return to whenever they need to slow down, reset, or reconnect.
This is the second of three sessions to be offered. The final session will be held on May 3, 2026.
Tickets: $20-$30 (sliding scale) per session. Pre-registration required.
Meet Your Facilitator
Marisa Löwenstein is a Creative Director and certified Vedic Meditation teacher with over 15 years of meditation experience. Trained in New York and India, she blends meditation with guided practices such as Meditative Drawing to help people quiet the mind, improve focus, and creative problem-solving. Drawing from her background in design, teaching, and mentorship, Marisa leads thoughtful, practical workshops that support clarity and creative flow. She teaches in English and Spanish and has worked with institutions such as FIT, The High Line, Boston University, and Ralph Lauren.
Green Ossining Earth Day Festival
Green Ossining’s 16th Annual Earth Day Festival
Come experience Westchester’s largest Earth Day Festival! This family-friendly event features live music and entertainment, the best of Westchester’s earth-friendly businesses and organizations, educational booths, waste-free food trucks, games, and more. Located at Louis Engel Park, near the Ossining train station on the banks of the Hudson River.
Visit the Hudson Valley Books for Humanity booth, right near the entrance to the festival. We look forward to seeing you!
Free to attend. Event takes place rain or shine. Click image below for more info.
Indie Bookstore Day
Visit Hudson Valley Books for Humanity and celebrate Independent Bookstore Day with us!
We know you have choices for your book and gift purchases. Independent Bookstore Day is one way we can express our profound gratitude for your support of Hudson Valley Books for Humanity (and all independent bookstores).
Here’s what you can expect inside our store on Saturday, April 25.
📗 One Free Pre-Loved Book - to the first twenty customers in the door!
· 🥉 Triple Punches All Day - on Frequent Shopper Cards
· 🛍️Free Tote Bag of Your Choice- with $75 or more purchase
· 🎫 Libro.fm Golden Ticket Hunt - ticket good for 12 free audiobooks from Libro.fm
· 🗾 All New 2026 Hudson Valley Book Trail Maps - updated to include more than 70 bookstores in the Hudson Valley; first available for sale on Indie Bookstore Day!
So, come on down and visit us! (And don’t forget to also stop into our tent at the Green Ossining Earth Day Festival, where we’ll offer triple punches, a free tote bag for purchases of $75 or more, and the new 2026 Hudson Valley Book Trail Map.)
Cancelled: Make an Upcycled Denim Pouch!
Remanufactured Denim Pouch Workshop
We’re sorry to cancel this event. Please keep an eye on our website for a new date down the road.
Join us for this very special Earth Day activity and learn how to make a new product out of upcycled denim pants. Your facilitators Carolina and Carmen, from MAKE ANEEW, will introduce you to circular fashion through garment deconstruction, pattern copying, and remanufacturing.
Using discarded cotton/blend denim pants, participants will create a functional zippered pouch while learning foundational skills in cutting, tracing, and sewing. The workshop focuses on garment reuse, aligning with MAKE ANEEW’s mission to reframe textile waste as a valuable resource.
In this workshop, you will learn to deconstruct garments to maximize usable fabric, trace a reusable pouch pattern, cut and sew a zippered pouch from upcycled denim. Best of all, you can take home the pouch and the pattern template (to reuse again and again)!
Participants MUST know how to operate a sewing machine and have a beginning to intermediate level of sewing experience.
No cost to participate, but advance registration is required.
About Carolina
Carolina Bedoya is the Ossining-based Co-Founder of MAKE ANEEW, a textile artist, circular systems strategist, and sustainability educator. Her work focuses on extending the lifecycle of textiles through art, remanufacturing, and material transformation, reframing waste as a resource within circular design systems.
About Carmen
Carmen Gama is Co-Founder of MAKE ANEEW and Director of Circular Design at EILEEN FISHER. With over a decade of experience, she develops and leads circular design systems that extend the lifecycle of textiles through remanufacturing, reuse, recycling and regenerative strategies.
About Make Aneew
MAKE ANEEW is a Circular Design Recycling Center and Studio—based in Ossining—that maximizes the value of discarded clothing through repair, remanufacturing, and recycling. We also provide circular education through consulting and workshops. Our services support designers, brands, textile collectors, reverse logistics providers, and other stakeholders in the fashion and textile industries, helping them integrate circular solutions, transform waste into valuable products, reduce reliance on virgin materials, and achieve environmental goals.
Additionally, we invest in workforce development by training local talent from New York’s diverse communities, fashion schools, and Garment District businesses. MAKE ANEEW is driving innovation, creating jobs, and advancing circular fashion.
Building Bridges Through Books: April 21 @ Bethany Arts Community
Join us for the April meeting of our Social Justice Book Club. We’ll be discussing Heart of a Stranger, by Angela Buchdahl.
Short Attention Span Book Club @ SSPM/Riverworks Office
Short on time? No problem! This book club is designed with minimal reading and maximum impact.
Open Mic @ Bethany Arts Community—Poetry Month Celebration
Share your talent in a supportive and upbeat setting!
Meditative Drawing Workshop
Quiet Your Mind, Achieve Clarity, and Feel Refreshed
Meditative Drawing is a guided, accessible practice that combines simple drawing exercises with principles of meditation to help quiet mental noise and restore a sense of calm and focus. This workshop is not about artistic skill or making a “good” drawing—it’s about creating the conditions for the mind to settle and move into quieter layers of thinking that are by nature more blissful, peaceful, and enjoyable. Through structured patterns, repetition, and gentle guidance, participants are led out of overthinking and into a state of relaxed attention, where creativity and clarity naturally emerge.
During the workshop, Marisa Löwenstein will guide participants step by step through a series of meditative drawing exercises designed to support deep rest, presence, and creative flow. All materials will be provided, and no prior drawing or meditation experience is required. Participants often leave feeling more grounded, refreshed, and clear, along with a practical tool they can return to whenever they need to slow down, reset, or reconnect.
This is the first of three sessions to be offered. The other two will take place on April 19 and 26 (same time).
Tickets: $20-$30 (sliding scale) per session. Pre-registration required.
Meet Your Facilitator
Marisa Löwenstein is a Creative Director and certified Vedic Meditation teacher with over 15 years of meditation experience. Trained in New York and India, she blends meditation with guided practices such as Meditative Drawing to help people quiet the mind, improve focus, and creative problem-solving. Drawing from her background in design, teaching, and mentorship, Marisa leads thoughtful, practical workshops that support clarity and creative flow. She teaches in English and Spanish and has worked with institutions such as FIT, The High Line, Boston University, and Ralph Lauren.
Improv Comedy with Blind Tiger's House Teams
Join us for the funnest improv comedy in the Hudson Valley!
We are always delighted to feature the comedic talent of Blind Tiger Improv in their monthly showcase at the bookstore. You never know what to expect, because, well, it’s improv!
For April’s show, you can expect the cream of the crop, the best in the business: Blind Tiger’s House Teams, featuring Play It Forward and I Love Your Grandma.
Following those performances, come on out at 9:15 PM and have some fun with Blind Tiger! Any and all can sign up and play in an improv scene with one of our performers. And the best part? This portion of the evening is absolutely free!
Full show only $15 at the door.
About Blind Tiger
Blind Tiger Improv has performed across the Hudson Valley region at theaters in Peekskill, Beacon, and Suffern, NY. This year you’ll can find them monthly at Hudson Valley Books for Humanity in Ossining. They’re proud to be versatile improvisers, adept at long-form improv performance pieces.
Minding Your Memory: Book Talk with Lisa Feiner and Dr. Susanne Saltzman
Join Board Certified Health Coach and Co-Editor Lisa Feiner, and Susanne Saltzman MD, to learn what you can do, starting today, to preserve your most precious asset: a healthy, vibrant mind.
OTown Reads: The Correspondent
O-TOWN READS AGAIN
Please join us for the next gathering of our in-store book club! On Wednesday, April 8 at 7 PM, we will be discussing The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. We're announcing it now so that you have plenty of time to read.
Those of us in the store who have read it enjoyed it so much that we could not resist choosing it for our spring selection. We think you will love it too.
This "sleeper hit" skyrocketed to the top of the NY Times bestselling fiction list in December for a good reason.
From Goodreads:
“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle. . . . Isn’t there something wonderful in that, to think that a story of one’s life is preserved in some way, that this very letter may one day mean something, even if it is a very small thing, to someone?”
Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime.
We have plenty of copies in the store, at a 10% discount as always for book clubs.
There will be snacks on hand, wine, beer and soft drinks available for purchase, and free tea and water. We hope to see you on Wednesday April 8 at 7 PM.
Please sign up here so that we can save a seat for you.
Happy reading until then!
The enthusiastic HVBH team
What We Carry: Poetry, Identity, and the Work of Becoming
Join poets Susan Michele Coronel, Dawn Leas, and Amy Small-McKinney for an evening of readings and conversation exploring how identity is shaped—and reshaped—across a lifetime.
Special Read-Aloud with Author Nancy Castaldo: Whales in the City
Kids age 4-8: Join us for a special read-aloud with local author Nancy Castaldo, and learn about the remarkable history of whales in the Hudson!
Short Attention Span Book Club
Short on time? No problem! This book club is designed with minimal reading and maximum impact.
Blind Tiger Improv
The funniest improv this side of the Hudson, brought to you by Blind Tiger Improv.
This show features the cream of the crop, the best in the business: The Blind Tiger House Teams!
All shows are rated PG-13. Although they aren’t vulgar and don’t go blue, they can’t guarantee that their shows won’t feature adult material, like alcohol use or taxes. Parents and guardians are urged to exercise their judgement when bringing children and minors to these shows.
Only $15 at the door or $12 online.
Blind Tiger Improv is committed to creating a space where everyone, regardless of background or experience, can explore the art of improvisation. They seek to create and foster well-rounded improvisers, perform high-quality improv shows, provide an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for all, and support the improv and comedy community in the Hudson Valley. Learn more at www.blindtigerimprov.com.
Building Bridges Through Books: March 10 Gathering
Join us for the next gathering of our Social Justice Book Club. We’ll be discussing The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson.
Blind Tiger Improv: Fundamentals Class Show
Fundamentals Class Show, Hey Ma!, & Lottery Team
Graduates of Improv Fundamentals take the stage and showcase what they've learned!! PLUS Gary Goldsmith and Sarah Sommers are both improv duo Hey, Ma!and married! PLUS The Lottery features improv ensembles made-up of both Blind Tiger students and veteran performers. Only $15 here or at the door!
Book Launch: “The Subtlety of the Street” by M. Peregrine Balmat
Celebrate Perry’s new book with a lively discussion of the nuances of everyday communication between institutional professionals and those they serve.
Art Book Reading Party
Come ooh and aah with other art book lovers as you check out some of our gorgeous art books and enjoy a drink or snack from our bar!
Hudsounds: A Songwriter’s Showcase, presented by Eli Musser
A new monthly series, highlighting the best original music of the Hudson Valley
Created by local musician Eli Musser, HudSounds is an up-close, curated, acoustic performance experience focused on the art and craft of our regional songwriting talent. Performers take their melodies and stories to our cozy stage in an intimate setting, all designed to entertain, illuminate and bring together our unique local music scene.
Our first act of this new series features singer-songwriters Siobhan O’Malley and Matt DeMello. (You might hear from Eli, too!) Join us for an inspirational and lively evening.
Tickets: $20 in advance; $25 at the door.
About Siobhan O’Malley
Siobhan O'Malley is a singer-songwriter who released three critically-acclaimed albums, and has played her music all around the country. She was signed to the label Blue Cocoon records. She released two new singles in January 2026 and is happy to be playing out, writing, recording and doing all the musical things again! She also produces the Songwright: Westchester Songwriters' Circle series at Bethany Arts.
“Siobhan is fantastic, super-expressive; she dives deep then surfaces.”—Mike Viola
About Matt DeMello
Matt DeMello is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and singer-songwriter based in Peekskill, New York. His latest album of original music, 2022's Confetti in a Coalmine combines hyperpop energy with classic Great American Songbook and protest folk tropes that painstakingly highlight the ways neoliberalism has eroded our social bonds.
About Eli Musser
Eli Musser has performed on countless stages in the NYC area over the past two decades, has been featured in Billboard, Songwriting Magazine UK and The Big Takeover, and his songs have been spun on SiriusXM. An International Songwriting Competition finalist and longtime rock and roll bandleader, Eli’s robust catalog of guitar-driven solo material also incorporates jazz, folk and classical — all through the lens of his soulful Appalachian roots.
Once I Ate: An Evening of Stories About Food
Join Amy Alpert, Amy Hall, Betsy Kates, Joyce Markovics, Rochelle Udell, and Barbara Worton as they share stories about food as sustenance, communication, identity, and more.
And then it’s your turn!
Do you have a food story you’d like to share? Submit your name at the event, and we’ll randomly select several storytellers. You’ll have 5 minutes to tell your story on stage. No notes!
Tickets: $10 donation to benefit the Ossining Food Pantry. Advance purchase strongly recommended.
Dan Elias Presents: The Villaggio Restaurant Trio
We are delighted to continue our monthly “Dan Elias Presents” series with the Villaggio Restaurant Trio.
Danny Weiss and Marco Brehm will join Dan in a reunion of the Villaggio Restaurant Trio, a mix of jazz, rock, Western swing, and more. Danny is a fine guitarist and singer, having toured for many years with Tony Trischka! They always have fun together.
We can’t think of a better way to spend your Sunday afternoon.
Tickets: $20 here or at the door
About Dan Elias
Daniel Elias has been playing the clarinet since its invention. A product of his surroundings, Daniel brings the streets of Brooklyn alive with his instrument. There is so much good music in the world that Daniel feels would benefit from the clarinet. In playing classical, Klezmer, Greek, Jazz and American Contradance music, this approach seems to work. The clarinet is not apparently suited for Grunge Music or Hurrian Hymns - so he will not be playing those. Daniel is pleased to continue his musical explorations at Ossining’s Hudson Valley Books for Humanity.
Laughter Chapter Comedy Show
Need a laugh?
Join us for a bookstore first: A comedy showcase curated by Ossining native and stand-up comedian Jack Ludlum. And what a show he has put together! Five talented Hudson Valley comedians: Andrew Alfredo, David Beckles, Jr., Gabrielle Johnson, Frankie Maglione, and Andrew Steiner. We can’t wait for you to meet them.
About Jack
Jack Ludlum is a stand-up comedian that has been performing and producing shows all over New York State and the Hudson Valley area for over a decade. A longtime native of Ossining, New York, and a self-proclaimed “encyclopedia of useless information”, Jack Ludlum’s act has evolved from his myriad of interests ranging from science, history, film, music, and even his own turbulent personal life. His influences include George Carlin, Colin Quinn, Patrice O’Neal, Dave Attell, and Doug Stanhope.
Short Attention Span Book Club
Short on time? No problem! This book club is designed with minimal reading and maximum impact.