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“With a regular coat of paint that bridge can last as long as the pyramids.” – Bob Singleton, Executive Director, Greater Astoria Historical Society from Hell Gate Bridge, an Astoria icon, turns 100 years old in AMNY, March 27, 2017

Our September Hell Gate show at Grove 34 in Astoria was a Queens-based Bookend Event for the 2024 Brooklyn Book Festival. Four Queens storytellers traded true tales inspired by the history of the Hell Gate Bridge from the archives of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

Before their story partner takes the stage, story coach Pichchenda Bao asks the authors a Hell Gate-themed question to learn a bit more about the iconic bridge and the writer. The full program is here.

Story partners Jackie Sherbow and Mia Arias Tsang. Photo credit Yui Kitamura.

Featured Stories

CROSSING THE BRIDGE by Jackie Sherbow, performed by Mia Arias Tsang, directed by Erika Iverson

REAWAKENING by Mia Arias Tsang, performed by Jackie Sherbow, and directed by KJ Fitzsimmons

Bios

Jackie Sherbow is the Woodside, Queens-based author of Harbinger (Finishing Line Press, 2019), publisher at THRASH Press, and senior managing editor of Ellery Queen’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazines. Their poems and stories have appeared in places like The Sierra Nevada Review, Luna Luna, Mystery Magazine, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. They are the former editor-in-chief and currently serve on the board of directors of Newtown Literary, the journal and organization dedicated to the writers of Queens.

Mia Arias Tsang is a writer and freelance editor based in New York City. Her work explores themes of queer desire, intimacy, and disconnect. A Tin House Summer Workshop alum, her work has appeared in Copy, Autostraddle, Half Mystic Press, Fatal Flaw Magazine, and Broad Recognition Magazine, among others. She is a copy editor for the literary magazine Identity Theory and program coordinator at the literary nonprofit House of SpeakEasy, and writes a newsletter called Overripe Peach. She lives in Queens with her cat, Peanut, and is currently working on a novel.

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THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.