Patti Smith and Nelio Biedermann will meet on November 5 at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre as part of the venue’s BookTalk series. Organized in partnership with McNally Jackson Books, the event will focus on Smith’s memoir, “Bread of Angels,” and Biedermann’s novel, “Lázár.” A book signing with both authors will follow the conversation.
At first glance, Smith and Biedermann may seem like an unusual pairing, especially given the generational gap between them. Smith has spent decades moving between music, poetry, photography, and prose, becoming a key figure in alternative culture. Biedermann, born in 2003, belongs to a much younger generation of writers and has attracted international attention with Lázár, a multigenerational family saga set against the backdrop of the events that shaped twentieth-century European history.
What makes this meeting interesting is precisely the distance between their backgrounds and experiences. In her memoir, Smith looks back on a life shaped by art, personal encounters and creative exploration. Biedermann, on the other hand, uses fiction to explore family ties, memory, and the forces that shape individual lives across generations.
Their approaches are different, but both books offer a way to look at how personal stories intertwine with the world around us. Bringing these two authors together offers an opportunity to reflect on storytelling not as something tied to a single generation or artistic field, but as a way of exploring experiences, identities, and the past from different perspectives.
The BookTalk will take place at Cherry Lane Theatre on November 5 at 7 p.m.
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