‘A Dream Task’: Inside Nico Lou’s new Mutt Library at Hancock Cafe

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Interview by EVG 

East Village native Nico Lou Monheim Carrasquillo has a new home for some of the books, writers and literary discoveries that have shaped her reading life. 

The founder and curator of the monthly MUTT Readings just launched the Mutt Library at Hancock Cafe on Rivington at Attorney on the Lower East Side — a handpicked selection of secondhand books available to browse and purchase.

The shelves mix influential favorites with work by writers who have taken part in MUTT Readings, alongside chapbooks, small-press titles and other finds sourced largely from friends and independent booksellers around the city. 

Hancock Cafe opened earlier this summer here on the Lower East Side, an outgrowth of the Hancock Foundation, the arts and event space tucked inside a 19th-century Bed-Stuy mansion. Elene Makharashvili, Nini Nebieridze and Jack Doyle Smith are behind both projects. 

We talked with Nico Lou about how Mutt Library came together, what makes a book worthy of the shelves and what's next on her own reading list.

How did the collab with Hancock come about?

I met Elene, Jack (both below), and Nini, who run the Hancock Cafe together, through my dad many years ago — before anything "Hancock" existed. 

Their first project was the Hancock Foundation, which is an event space in Bed-Stuy that hosts music and art shows, food pop-ups, film screenings, etc. They do lots of different things. 

This summer, they expanded and opened up the Hancock Cafe on Rivington Street. It's actually just down the street from where I grew up. Elene reached out to me about a month after they'd opened to see if I might be interested in curating the book selection at the cafe, which is my dream task. 

After that, it came together really quickly. I sourced books from my own personal collection, as well as from bookstores and from my friend Joshua, who runs JRS Books and sets up his book table at Tompkins on Sundays. I did buy a few things online, but I mostly want to find things in person and support my friends who are booksellers, like Joshua or Thirteen at Trains and Tom Ianelli at Peter Books. 

It feels much more exciting and personal to find things that way when I can. 

What can people expect from your curated selection of books ... typically what catches your eye?

The curation is a mix of things that were very influential to me — books like "Baise-Moi," the "High Risk" anthologies, or Richard Brautigan — as well as titles by people who have been directly involved in Mutt Readings, the monthly reading series I host. 

I have a book of poetry by my friend India Rose Timpani, which she self-published in June; Bud Smith's recently reprinted book "Work"; Will Mountain Cox's anthology "The Relegation Reader"; and chapbooks by Blush Bullseye, Lucas Restivo, and Montana James Thomas. 

Sarah Schulman, Darcey Steinke, Nicole Treska and Courtney Bush are all writers who have read at MUTT before, so having their books available here is another nice way to platform their work.

What's next on your personal reading list?

I just finished "City of Rats" by Copi, which was insane and amazing. Now I'm reading "The Bell Jar," somewhat randomly. Next, I think I'm gonna read "Dark Rides," which my friend (and amazing writer!) Oisín Roberts gave me as a gift this past March. I also want to read "Luna" by Delacorta, which I got for the library because the cover is so good and camp, but the storyline also sounds bizarre. It seems like it could be a good end-of-the-summer beach read.

And Mutt Library seems particularly at home at Hancock, a laptop-free cafe designed to encourage conversation, readings and other gatherings.

The launch afternoon this past Saturday also included a cake made by Dusty Rose Ryan (below left).

Books, cake and no laptops. We could get used to this. 

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Hankcock Cafe, 176 Rivington St., is open daily... from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a 6 p.m. close on Saturdays and Sundays. Follow them on Instagram here.