Perlin chronicles the rich linguistic history of New York City and raises the alarm on the growing threats to its endangered languages.

In Language City, Ross Perlin, co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance, follows six speakers of little-known and overlooked languages deep into their communities to learn how they are maintaining and reviving their languages against overwhelming odds. He also warns of the growing political threats and the onslaught of “killer languages” like English and Spanish. Most importantly, he shows how New York today is nothing less than a sanctuary of endangered languages.

Perlin speaks with author Suketu Mehta about his race against time to map the little-known languages across the most linguistically diverse city in history.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Ross Perlin is a linguist, writer, and translator. He has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, Harper’s, and n+1, and the Endangered Language Alliance has been covered by The New York Times, The New Yorker, BBC, NPR, and many others. He is also the author of Intern Nation: How to Learn Nothing and Earn Little in the Brave New Economy. Perlin is a native New Yorker.

Suketu Mehta is the New York-based author of Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, which won the Kiriyama Prize and the Hutch Crossword Award, and was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize, the Lettre Ulysses Prize, the BBC4 Samuel Johnson Prize, and the Guardian First Book Award. He has won the Whiting Writers’ Award, the O. Henry Prize, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for his fiction. Mehta’s work has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Granta, Harper’s Magazine, Time, and Newsweek, and has been featured on NPR’s Fresh Air and All Things Considered.

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ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person | Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs. 

Livestream | Captions and a transcript will be provided. Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

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Ross Perlin © Cecil Howell
Courtesy Suketu Mehta