Several dozen celebrities, authors and icons mingled inside the Waverly Inn’s exclusive, and dimly lit, main dining room to toast writers on Tuesday night in the West Village.
A dinner for Air Mail’s inaugural Tom Wolfe Prizes for Fiction and Reportage had a little bit of everything. At a table beneath an Edward Sorel mural, the actress Bette Midler sat beside Graydon Carter, the founder and co-editor of Air Mail, the digital weekly magazine.
“Tom Wolfe would be delighted,” Mr. Carter said about the journalist and novelist often seen in a white three-piece suit and hat. “He could talk to anybody, like a great reporter.”
The comedian Seth Meyers served as the night’s emcee. He sat across the table from Mr. Carter, who “always wants to make sure that this is a city that’s home to writers,” Mr. Meyers said.
The night’s award for fiction writing went to Vincenzo Latronico the Italian novelist and author of “Perfection,” a short novel about a couple in Berlin. The nonfiction award was given to Meghan Daum, the journalist and author of “The Catastrophe Hour,” a book of selected essays written between 2016 and 2023. Both awards were presented by Alexandra Wolfe, the writer’s daughter. Winners would also receive a $10,000 honorarium to put toward their craft. Mr. Latronico thanked Sophie Hughes, who translated his book to English from Italian.
Ms. Daum thanked her copy editors and quipped that when she first heard the award — an inky black bust with a miniature homburg hat, to mimic the one Wolfe wore — was for emerging artists, she was “really thrilled.”
“I’ve been in this business for 30 years, and I’ve been waiting to emerge all this time and it’s finally happened,” she said to the room.
After the awards were handed out, dinner was served. Guests had a choice of chicken, salmon or filet mignon. Underneath place cards on the table there were small boxes which held a Montblanc Meisterstück ballpoint pen — a favorite of Wolfe’s, a gift courtesy of Montblanc, which sponsored the event.
The dinner not only celebrated the authors but also the legacy of Wolfe. Alessandra Stanley, Air Mail’s co-editor, sat at a table with Walter Isaacson, who noted, “it’s just remarkably nice to feel you’re part of that tradition of Tom Wolfe.”
The evening was not all literary all the time. At one point the actress Emma Roberts, who carried a clutch that looked like a copy of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” her friend and co-founder of their book club Belletrist, Karah Preiss and the author Lisa Taddeo stepped out for a cigarette and conversation.
Closer to the entrance of the dining room, Mr. Myers squeezed into a booth between Ms. Midler and Mr. Carter. At a longer table nearby, Emily Sundberg, the Substack writer, and others chatted about Mayor Eric Adams.
“I’ll miss him!” she said, half in jest and half earnestly.
Near Ms. Sundberg, the actress Sarah Jessica Parker sat across from her husband, the actor Matthew Broderick. It was not an average weeknight for the couple who are preparing to be empty nesters, she said.
“On an average Tuesday night, I am cooking dinner, and I’m checking on homework,” said Ms. Parker, who wore a fuchsia overcoat with an embroidered snake pin. “I like having my children around. Our son just moved out. I prefer to have human beings there — I don’t know where they are — and then I turn a corner, and they’re there, or their belongings are there.”
Nearby, Ms. Midler took a swig of champagne as she looked around the room.
“I know in the world there’s so much upheaval,” Ms. Midler said, her curled bang grazing her brow. “I’m really relieved to be sitting here. I’m looking forward to a glass of wine and a really good meal, because I know I’m going to get it at this place. I just want a break. We all need a break.”
Sandra E. Garcia is a Times reporter covering style and culture.
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