Friday
April 3
Notes from the underground
It is a sketch of the artist as a young man. One hundred and sixty pages of the late, great Brooklyn artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s personal notebooks are going on display to the public for the first time at the Brooklyn Museum. The notebooks date from 1980 to 1987, and are filled with handwritten notes, poems, lists, and sketches from the Park Slope-born painter.
11 am–6 pm at the Brooklyn Museum [200 Eastern Pkwy. between Washington and Flatbush avenues in Prospect Heights, (718)638–5000, www.brook
Saturday
April 4
Dances with fools
The annual Silly Dance Contest is exactly what it sounds like. Bring your most ludicrous moves to the dance floor for your chance to win gift certificates and free shots. Or just come along to watch, laugh, and eat Vietnamese bar food at this year’s venue, Bia.
Midnight at Bia (67 S, Sixth between Berry Street and Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, (718) 388–0908, www.faceb
sunday
April 5
Just eat it
Spring has sprung, which means Brooklyn Flea is back. More excitingly, so is its food fair offshoot Smorgasburg, which returns April 4 in Williamsburg, and today in Brooklyn Heights. Some of the more interesting new dishes on offer this year include deep-fried cheese curds, duck confit, Scotch eggs, and Indian-Mexican fusion tacos.
11 am–6 pm at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (Jorelamon Street at Furman Street in Brooklyn Heights, www.smorg
Wednesday
April 8
How to train your falcon
The literary world is in a flap over British author Helen Macdonald’s new memoir “H is for Hawk.” The widely-acclaimed tome tells the story of the author’s own adventures in falconry, along with those of her literary hero, T.H. White. Hear all about it when Macdonald flies to Greenlight Bookstore to chat with author and critic Lev Grossman.
7:30 pm at Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–0200, www.green
Thursday
April 9
Comic con-versation
Pencil this one in. “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau just became the first cartoonist to win a George Polk Award for journalism, and to commemorate the occasion, the legendary comic creator will join fellow cartoonist Jules Feiffer, illustrator Molly Crabapple, and the Onion writer Django Gold in a free panel discussion about the role of cartoons and satire in public discourse.
6:30 pm at Long Island University Kumble Theater [DeKalb Avenue at Flatbush Avenue in Downtown, (718) 488–1624, www.brook
