On July 25th, I, hailo, went to Lore-- a new sauna in Noho for The Bathhouse Block Party event. Lore is one of many new saunas in New York as the wellness industry continues to expand and clubbing begins to dwindle. I am no better than the headlines. I am a member of Gen Z who gets off on being in bed by midnight these days. And I want to make sure that my eggs are cage free. But hey, what can I say? It feels good to feel good. Culture of Bathing "a place for those already in

On March 25, 2026 I, Julia, stepped off the plane and onto the tarmac, immediately flooded by unfamiliarity. I had already booked my trains from city to city, starting tomorrow morning, but for now it was past my bedtime and I had no idea how to get to my hostel in the center of Warsaw. Some signs were in English, but more were in Polish. The only Polish words I had truly learned before my arrival were jabłko and mleko and chleb (apple, milk, and bread, thank you Duolingo). A

On Tuesday, July 21st Hot Literati Member and writer Marissa Vivian lead our New York Chapter through Anaïs Nin Night. Hot Literatis never flake It was a crazy day in New York, as a storm broke and we all got notifications of a tornado warning! But still, we gathered as a group to celebrate life, literature, and Hot Literati. Part One First, everyone trickled in LES Wines on Ludlow street and we checked them in. Attendees were each given a bottle of Les Cahiers Secrets-- a sc

On July 18th, 2026 I, hailo, went to a literary party. As I write this, I am drinking coffee on the couch and intermittently reading The Idiot. I'm on page 407. The New Critic is a literary magazine founded by some recent Ivy League grads looking to create a space where Gen Z can write anything, unfiltered. They rented a really beautiful space south of Seward Park and gathered a room of their subscribers for a night of music and an open bar. I went, saw a couple of friends, a

On Sunday, July 12th I, hailo, went to the Whitney to see the Biennial. The first time I ever heard about the Whitney Biennial was through an artist I used to date. A piece he was working on was being considered. An "almost" is what he was left with, I think. I didn't plan on going to the Whitney that day, but I'd just left everyone's favorite social club in the meatpacking district (I wanted to read in the pool, which I did for a bit until one of my girlfriends saw me and in

Plus Steamed Chicken, La Cabra, & my DMs are closed (unless you are a brand or an invitation) hello party girls I don't check Hot Literati's DMs very much because I've been prioritizing engaging with members on the website-- members who post, come to book club, and more. But I did check them briefly today. Being a niche-internet celebrity is sometimes fun and sometimes very confusing. I will occasionally receive DMs of people who saw me in target and think I'm shorter than th

I love Wichita. It is my hometown and is the reason I am who I am in many ways. However, every time I come home I remember why I keep leaving. Wichita has a slight problem with the diversification of its economy-- a problem that business and community leaders and tackling head on. For an ambitious, creative young adult, opportunities are pretty sparse. But more importantly, I think that Wichita has an infrastructure problem with its transit. I enjoy bigger cities like New Yor

On July 6th, 2026 I, hailo, headed to downtown Wichita to visit NICHE's Culinary School. Photo by Kevin Colborn Niche is a part of Wichita State's Technical School, training the next generation of chefs, restaurant operators, and others suited to disrupt the hospitality industry. Hospitality is an industry close to my heart--in DECA competitions as a teenager, I always competed in hospitality events, and I spent two years in New York working for a very exciting restaurant-tec

or, Why I'm going to make Wichita walkable When you are a Child ,in school they will show you videos of people like Martin Luther king jr and Albert Einstein and tell you that you can change the world. When you are an adult and you say that you want to change the world they will tell you that you are crazy and that it is not possible. In order to do anything new, you have to be a little crazy. I do not enjoy watching TV (except the History Channel). Overall, I have a hard tim

On July 30th, 2026 I, hailo, went to Church. I went to the big Church on Bowery for the launch of Kismet's latest issue. Photo by Chris Jesu Lee I had walked by the church and eyed it for a very long time. It is beautiful, the way big churches are. Kismet is a literary magazine that explores spirituality in a contemporary lens. I brought my friend Chris with me. He Is a dear friend and a fellow writer. You should checkout his substack, Salieri Redemption. We saw some other fr

On Tuesday, June 9th we gathered 20 Hot Literati at LES Wine on the Lower East Side to discuss Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, and life. Steven's Russian Space Dog Necklace Each group put together their own take on Lolita as a love story, a horror story, and/or a comedy. Here's what they said: Our collective intellectual work "The themes of Lolita seem overtly romantic, and those overtones paired with H.H’s position as the narrator and Nabokov's witty, immensely detailed writing st

It's May. One of those balmy days, quite warm with raindrops speckled throughout the day. I'm walking down Orchard St, coming up from Grand and I see him, sitting outside. Erwin, with his strong, kind face, looking down at his phone. So I sneak up really quiet and drop into the chair in front of him. "Hello!" I say. He laughs. I laugh... "You know, I always remember you," he says, taking off his phone case to reveal a Hot Literati sticker. We grow up in a lot of places. If we

On Tuesday, June 2nd... We gathered a room of 20 Hot Literati at LES Wine on Ludlow Street to discuss Joan Didion. We split into three groups and each one was tasked with creating their own Joan Didion character set In 2026. Read them all and then vote on your favorite one: Group One Claudia is riding the subway to her thesis defense, riding the J train from her boyfriend’s bedstuy studio apartment. She’s been in love with him for approximately 30 of the 1,825 days she’s been

Tonight I went to the box for the first time. The first time I heard about the box was from a classmate in my eating club back in 2022 after they attended a party there with a former mayor, lots of models, and other A-list sorts. That world felt so glamorous and aloof to me and a year later that same friend would bring me into their world here in New York and I would begin writing about clubbing online and begin accquiring an audience and something like momentum. An open bar

Last night, I, hailo, went to Miu Miu on 57th st to celebrate Joey King's selections. I took the train uptown, reading an unpublished novel by a friend. I'm lucky to have the second copy. And then I got there and waitedin a brief line. I checked in, took a photo, and went upstairs where I put a Miu Miu coin Into a vending machine and received some stickers. I met a nice couple from New Jersey and saw a beautiful blue dress that reminded me of Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

hello beautiful angels, princesses, and other people of the Hot Literati Universe. I’m so happy you’re here. Tomorrow, I'll post the winning essay of our April Competition, but for today, I’m going to tell you about some of my favorite open mics in New York and some things that I did recently! God Save the Scene Reading Yesterday, I joined my friend Chris at a reading series by GOD SAVE THE SCENE at a gallery off of Canal Street. There were a lot of great satirical pieces, a