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Brooklyn Book Festival announces lineup of authors and events

August 30, 2018 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Book Festival
Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Book Festival
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Read any good books lately? Well, you’ll have the chance to discover a world of great reading during the annual Brooklyn Book Festival, which runs from Monday, Sept. 10 to Monday, Sept. 17.

Highlights of the event include Children’s Day on Saturday, Sept. 15 and flagship Festival Day with a literary marketplace on Sunday, Sept. 16 at Borough Hall.

In fact, this is New York City’s largest free literary event featuring over 300 top authors discussing their works. The festival’s Bookend activities will include more than 50 special events focusing on the literary diversity of New York City and the uniqueness of each of the five boroughs.

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On Monday, Sept. 10, the week kicks off with a dance party at Pioneer Works in Red Hook.

Festival Day authors are scheduled to include Eric Adams, Martin Amis, Justine Bateman, Omar Epps, Jennifer Esposito, Pete Hamill, Michael Imperioli, Amber Tamblyn, Joyce Carol Oates and hundreds more.

Bookend Event authors will include Scott Cheshire, Mark Doty, Mona Eltahawy and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Participating Children’s Day authors are Mac Barnett, Pablo Cartaya, Jordan Crane, Jessica Love, Meg Medina, Ezra Stein, Jacqueline Woodson and many more. Children’s Day runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at MetroTech Commons in Downtown Brooklyn.

The flagship 14-stage Festival Day draws tens of thousands each year, according to a release. This year’s festival features more than 300 writers of beloved works of fiction and nonfiction, poetry and graphic novels who will participate in panels, readings and other creative performances.

Attendees are welcome to take a stroll through the vibrant outdoor literary marketplace, hosting nearly 250 independent booksellers and publishers.

This year’s festival themes address pressing contemporary social and literary topics from fatherhood, celebrity and the modern family to immigration, poetry and politics, and the war on truth and journalism.

The Brooklyn Book Festival is as international as New York City itself. This year’s slate of authors represents nations and cultures the world over, including Angola (Ondjaki), Argentina (Hernan Diaz), Colombia (Hector Abad), Croatia (Dubravka Ugresic), Iraq (Dunya Mikhail), Uganda (Jennifer Nansubuga Makumi) and many more.

Teen readers will also find their favorite authors on the main Festival Day, where they can experience diverse and vibrant conversations about storytelling at the Brooklyn Law School Student Lounge. Young adult readers can check out panels including David Levithan, Nisha Sharma, Malinda Lo and Lygia Day Penaflor, among other young adult authors.

“I’m very excited about all the incredible programming presented this year through the partnerships we’ve forged over the years,” said Johnny Temple, chair of the Brooklyn Literary Council.

“BAM is hosting a program with Isabella Rossellini, the Center for Fiction with Joyce Carol Oates, the Whiting Foundation with Kevin Young, St. Francis College with Jamel Brinkley, to name just a few partnership programs — and this only scratches the surface of the ridiculously talent-gorged author events at this year’s festival.”

 


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