It was a breezy April night, and a line of well-dressed Gen Zennials turned the corner of the street in the heart of Bushwick, but once attendees made their way to the front, they were met by bouncer Hailey Cognetti, who wore vintage burgundy nightgowns and a chunky cross necklace. On the same table where she checked IDs, handed out waivers, and covered iPhones laid a slice of pizza with only a single bite taken out of it – it became too busy for Cognetti to finish up. 

The typically dark bar brightened up. It was not overwhelmed with LEDs or strobes to create a party/rave atmosphere that was more familiar to Brooklyn. Instead, the bar was moonlit, capturing the contemplative and romantic feel of the Dostoevsky-themed party inside.

Defining itself as "a community of hot, cool, well-read individuals with the mission of making writing and art sexy again," it is no wonder that Hot Literati's recent party turned a trendy New York bar into a space dedicated to the great 19th-century Russian novelist.

To encourage people to be fully present, phones and cameras were forbidden. Of the few available mirrors, one was covered with dust, and the other had a camera on top of it. Cognetti said, "We were asking ourselves, what if we lived in a world without mirrors or cameras?" If you're looking in the mirror, be conscious of it. 

Hot Literati – run by Hailo Denise Colborn – wanted people to be aware of their vanity and reflect on its relentless presence in today's world. 

Hot Literati intentionally placed certain Dostoevsky book pages around the bar to further push reflection upon partygoers. When you stepped through the curtain after getting your phone taped and signing a waiver, there was a page titled "Part One." "Part Two" was placed on a table, and Part 3 helped cover the bathroom mirror. 

As expected at a Brooklyn party centered around a late realist author and set to make people feel fully present, conversations turned deep – maybe just slightly pretentious – even between people who had just met each other.

At the start of the party, attendees were told to close their eyes, breathe in, and listen to Ingrid Norton as she read excerpts that asked people to evaluate themselves and their purpose – a theme prevalent in the religious writer's work. She read pages from The Idiot, where the main character gets pardoned from death at the last minute, hoping to provoke fear and then gratitude.  

Mari Sitner – who acted as Dmitri Karamazov – staged a contemporary version of The Brothers Karamazov. She was joined by Chandra Albritton (Fyodor Karamazov), Aurelea (Alyosha Karamazov), and Kara Gordon (Ivan Karamazov). Most attendees still have no idea that the theatrical dialogue of The Sisters Karamazov woven into the party was scripted. In his DJ set, Anderson Peguerro II mixed Notes from Underground into his house beats.

"Dostoevsky once said, 'Every minute can be an eternity of happiness,' and we wanted others to realize that as well," shared Cognetti.