NYC Death Dispatch: August 2026
A diverse slate of events for the death curious.
Welcome back to another edition of NYC Death Dispatch, your guide to all the death events that are fit to print. My hope with every issue is that there’s something for everyone. This month, you’re in luck if you want to learn about the art of writing an obituary, partake in a healing sound bath, or discuss ancient burial rituals. I’m personally partial to the drone metal vigil.
Check out what’s on deck, and enjoy the rest of this unwieldy summer.
Happening this month
📚 MEETUP | Tue Aug 4: Minding Our Mortality Book Club
This month’s selection is Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle, a novel about a man who’s been followed by ghosts since his father’s death.
$10 suggested donation | 7-8:30 pm | Neighbor, 176 9th Ave, Manhattan
🧘🏻♀️ GATHERING | Tue Aug 4: Sound Journey + Keepsake Bracelet
Honor a loved one through a sound bath and meditation led by Kristen Cordero, and schedule a separate session to create a bespoke bracelet to remember them by.
$120 | 6-7 pm | 512 77th St, Brooklyn
✍️ TALK | Wed Aug 5: True Crime, Grief, and Writing The In Between
YA author Amy B. Scher, cold case medium Kiersten Hathcock, and former NYPD detective Mark Pucci will discuss portraying true crime with dignity and grace.
$0-21 | 6:30-8:30 pm | Hive Mind Books, 219 Irving Ave, Brooklyn
🎥 FILM | Fri Aug 5: Acorde Final
Part of the Dominican Film Festival, Acorde Final is about a grieving woman who obsessively takes refuge in playing piano.
$17.85 | 7-8:35 pm | AMC 34th St, 312 West 34th Street, Manhattan
🙏 CONFERENCE | Sat Aug 8: Becoming After Loss: Evolving Through Grief, Love, and Legacy
This community event combines a faith-centered healing experience with practical workshops about end-of-life legal and financial decisions.
Free | 10 am-3 pm | Temple of Restoration, 490 Pacific Street, Brooklyn
🗣️ TALK | Tue Aug 11: Victorian Oddities: Séances, Corsets, Corpses, and More
Professor JR Pepper will unpack the macabre obsessions of the 19th century, including mourning fashions, haunting photography, and fashionable séances. The event is sold out but you can try for same day tickets here.
$41.32 | 6:30-8:30 pm | Manhattan, address shared upon registration
📚 BOOK LAUNCH | Thu Aug 13: Sam Roberts, Are They Dead Yet?
Roberts has written almost 1,500 obituaries and will discuss his new book about the art of producing a succinct yet record-defining account of a life.
$13.61-$35.66 | 7 pm | Strand Rare Book Room, 828 Broadway, Manhattan
🤘 GATHERING | Sat Aug 15: Despair Sanctuary
This drone metal vigil for all who are weary invites people who are mourning or carrying other heavy burdens to immerse themselves in sound.
Free | 8 pm | Old First Reformed Church, 729 Carroll St, Brooklyn
🗣️ TALK | Wed Aug 26: Let’s Talk About Death: What Ancient Burials Can Teach Us
After5Society hosts a conversation with Dr. Pinar Durgun about how civilizations across time have honored the dead and what burial practices reveal about the people who came before us.
$30 | 6:30-8:30 pm | Manhattan, address shared upon registration
Monthly meetups
These free, ongoing series have an open format and are spaces to find support, be curious, and share experiences. Check the links for all the details.
Sat Aug 8: Death Cafe @ New York Public Library
First come, first seated | 3:30-4:30 pm | Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, Room 304, 455 5th Ave, Manhattan
Wed Aug 12: Grieving and Weaving @ Green-Wood Cemetery
6:30-8:30 pm | 500 25th St, Brooklyn
Wed Aug 19: Good Life/Good Death Cafe @ Brooklyn Public Library
2-3:30 | Park Slope Library, 431 6th Ave, Brooklyn
Wed Aug 19: Death Cafe @ Green-Wood Cemetery
6:30-8 pm | 500 25th St, Brooklyn
Mon Aug 24: Death Cafe @ New York Society for Ethical Culture
3-4:30 pm | 2 West 64th Street, Manhattan
Sun Aug 30: The Open Door Death Cafe @ Creative Mornings
1-2:30 pm | Manhattan, address shared after registration
Looking ahead
📝 Wed Sept 9: Signatures for Safekeeping: Preparing End-of-Life Documents
Green-Wood’s death education events often sell out, so get tickets now for this program that offers practical and accessible guidance on essential documents.
Free | 6:30-8:30 pm | Green-Wood Cemetery, 500 25th St, Brooklyn
Registration and ticket policies vary by event. Double-check details before attending in case I mis-typed something.
Endnotes
My friends from death doula training thought I should use this outro to introduce myself. Makes sense after seven months of doing this. So here’s an attempt:
I’m a native San Franciscan and very long-time NYC resident. I’ve always been a writer, dutifully waking up when I was a kid to tap something out on a Macintosh LC, and then making a career of it in digital design. I’ve made forays into journalism and academia, and I was changed by studying narrative medicine, which combines my interest in healthcare, storytelling, and holding space for the hard stuff.
I started this newsletter as a service and also for myself; I wanted to know where to find events that would tickle my brain, I wanted to meet people working in the death space, and I wanted to walk toward the tension between being drawn to death work while not having adequately explored my relationship with death. Now that the dispatch is out in the world and I hear from people who read it, I don’t feel like I’m compiling things for me, but for a little cosmos of death-positive souls.
You can always reach out to me with questions, feedback, or musings. I’m basically just another person trying to figure things out and contribute to her own becoming. Thanks so much for reading.