Close Reading NYC
The literary community for readers who want to go deeper.
We read demanding books together so you leave feeling curious, intellectually alive, and able to find meaning in literature that speaks to your life.
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Coming Up
All groups →The Odyssey
Mon, Tue & Thu · July 6 – Aug 13 · 11am & 7pm ET · 611 Broadway
Fall 2026
Anna Karenina
October
Sense and Sensibility
October
Frankenstein
October · Halloween special
The Master and Margarita
November
Pride and Prejudice
November
What is Close Reading NYC?
Close Reading NYC is a literary programming company based in New York City. Founded in 2024 by Elena Navarrete, a Comparative Literature graduate of Columbia University, we run structured reading groups for people who want to engage seriously with great books — without going back to grad school.
We offer the depth of a great college literature seminar, without the grades. Our groups read demanding texts closely: attentive and serious, without being stiff. You leave each session having noticed something in the language you wouldn't have caught alone.
We see literature as a practice for building curiosity, attention, connection, and a kind of expansion that is hard to find elsewhere. The best sessions feel like being let in on something: a way of reading most people never encounter after school, that changes how you see everything.
More than 300 readers have joined cohorts exploring Anna Karenina, Middlemarch, The Brothers Karamazov, Moby-Dick, One Hundred Years of Solitude, East of Eden, The Age of Innocence, and The Odyssey.
Is this for me?
You read books but rarely get to really talk about them
You want intellectual engagement that's rigorous but not academic
You're curious about literature and want to go further than the plot
You want to meet people in NYC who take ideas seriously
You've always wanted a seminar-style discussion without going back to school
The only requirement is showing up having read the book. No background in literature needed.
How We Read Together
Reading Groups
Structured, multi-week seminars on demanding texts. In person in NYC. The rigor of a literature seminar designed for people with full lives.
Explore Current OfferingsFacilitation
Custom-designed literary discussion programs for libraries, museums, and cultural institutions wanting intellectually serious programming.
Partner With UsOur Story
"We're serious without being solemn. We pay close attention and laugh a lot."
I'm Elena, the founder of Close Reading NYC. I have nine years of experience in literature. I studied Comparative Literature at Columbia University, did literary and cultural reporting at El Espectador, and worked in literary advocacy at PEN America. I then switched gears to consulting, where I learned how to bring rigor and structure to complex projects.
It was during that time, trying to maintain a serious reading practice alongside a demanding career, that I noticed the gap: there was no good middle ground between casual book clubs and going back to grad school. So I created that space.
For the past two years, I've been facilitating literary discussion groups in NYC, working through books like The Brothers Karamazov, Middlemarch, Anna Karenina, and East of Eden. The groups have the structure and rigor of a great literature seminar, but they're designed for people with full lives.
I occasionally facilitate for cultural organizations and libraries. This work grew out of my own need, and it turns out a lot of people need the same thing: a way to read seriously that lives alongside regular life, not in opposition to it.
What Readers Say
"This course really helped me deeply engage with the text in ways I wouldn't have if I had read it alone. The course felt like an 'expert book club' guided by specific instruction and goals. Elena was such a great instructor — she was very organized, caring, and created a fun & chill atmosphere for us all to learn together. I would highly recommend taking her course!"
"This was such a lovely course — I loved the course material and the way Elena structured and led the class. She was a really great guiding figure without being overbearing and I found myself learning so much from both the text and the secondary pieces she accompanied each chapter with. She is clearly so knowledgeable and thoughtful in her reading and that showed in how she created and led the class — I loved it!!"
"I'd highly recommend doing a Close Reading with Elena! I haven't had an experience like this since college, and the vibes were really good! I really appreciate how thoughtful she's been in setting everything up, and soliciting feedback for continuously improving the course."
"Really happy to find a group of intellectual but not too serious people to make sense of classical books with. Without school forcing me to read these it can be a bit daunting to read on my own but so lovely to read along with this group!"