Brooklyn Book Festival announces weeklong series of ‘Bookend’ events

Brooklyn Bookbeat: Over 60 lit events staged across Brooklyn, Sept. 16-22

August 29, 2013 From the Brooklyn Borough President's Office

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On Thursday, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and the Brooklyn Literary Council announced the “Bookends” programming to be held throughout the borough from September 16th until the 22nd, leading up to eighth annual Brooklyn Book Festival, supported by AT&T, on Sunday, September 22, 2013, from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

These unique literary-themed events, all free or low-cost to attendees, include film screenings, parties, literary games and author appearances; they will be held at clubs, bookstores, parks, theaters and libraries across Brooklyn. Authors range from the iconic Edwidge Danticat and E.L. Doctorow to the hip Jennifer Gilmore and Ron Sheffield, as well as a 15-year-old author, Tori Nighthawk.

“What better way to begin our Brooklyn Book Festival than with a ‘Bookend’ or two?” said Borough President Markowitz. “These events are wonderful celebrations of Brooklyn’s rich literary culture, where the magic of books literal-ly jump ‘off the page’ and into local fun-filled venues. For fans young and old, no matter what your reading interest, there will be stories to tell from this year’s ‘Bookends’!”

There will be numerous literary trivia sessions, special author readings and interactive events that intersect books with food, art, music, movies, sports, history, animals and more. Hands-on opportunities include photography workshops, open mic sessions, literary improvisation and a book pitch contest.

“One of the biggest areas of growth for the festival in the past few years has been with our Bookend events, which have added many layers of depth to our programming,” said Johnny Temple, the chair of the Brooklyn Literary Council. “We’ve always prided ourselves on how the Brooklyn Book Festival offers something for everyone, and our Bookend events seal this deal by providing many additional venues, many additional authors, and many additional audiences to what is now widely recognized as one of the very best literary events in the United States.”

2013 Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend Events

Visit http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/BBF/BookendEvents for Updates

Monday, September 16

Literary Worlds: An Opening Night Party for Brooklyn Book Festival Bookends. Navel, shoe, and stargazers unite! Electric Literature, Gigantic, and Tumblr present Literary Worlds, a Brooklyn Book Festival Bookends opening night party featuring the most dancing, sparkling conversation, reasonably priced cocktails, and bookish fun this side of the Milky Way.

Location: The Bell House, 149 7th St.

Time: 7:00 PM
Price: Free

What’s So Literary About Brooklyn? Brooklyn is considered the epicenter of contemporary literary culture, but why? Find out how much you know about Brooklyn authors and books by joining The Coffin Factory for a night of trivia, with participants culled from the Brooklyn literary scene: author, agent, and editor John M. Cusick of Armchair/Shotgun, Henry Stewart of The L Magazine and Brooklyn Magazine, and Penina Roth, curator, Franklin Park Reading Series.
Location: BookCourt, 163 Court St. (btw. Pacific and Dean Sts.)
Time: 7:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.thecoffinfactory.com, www.bookcourt.com

E.L. Doctorow, Lorin Stein and Chip McGrath on John O’Hara. Historical novelist E.L. Doctorow, Paris Review editorLorin Stein and The New York Times writer-at-large Chip McGrath discuss John O’Hara, who’s had more stories published in The New Yorker than anyone in the history of the magazine. Moderated by Steven Goldleaf. Presented by powerHouse Arena + Penguin Classics.
Location: powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St. at Water St.
Time: 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.powerhousearena.com

Explore Brooklyn Art Library and Contribute to the Sketchbook Project. Stop by during Book Festival week to contribute a page to the official Brooklyn Book Festival sketchbook. *This event will occur every day until September 21.

Location: Brooklyn Art Library, 103 N 3rd St.

Time: 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.sketchbookproject.com

Tuesday, September 17

BBTB: Paul Harding in Conversation with Michele Filgate, presented by Brooklyn Public Library, Community Bookstore & Congregation Beth Elohim. Harding discusses his second novel Enon which follows a character from his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Tinkers.
Location: Dweck Center, Brooklyn Public Library. 10 Grand Army Plaza (at Flatbush Ave. and Eastern Pkwy)
Time: 7:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.cbebk.org/brooklynbythebook

Catch as Catch Can with Ben Sargent. Greenpoint resident and renegade fisherman Ben Sargent preps recipes from his new book, The Catch, at the Brooklyn Kitchen. Sustainable seafood snacks, local beer, and author Q&A with tales of the high seas. Co-sponsored by Slow Food NYC and the Food Book Fair.
Location: The Brooklyn Kitchen. 100 Frost St., entrance on Meeker Ave. (btw. Frost & Leonard St.)
Time: 6:30 PM
Price: $10
Website: www.thebrooklynkitchen.com

Nerd Jeopardy! Everyone’s favorite literary trivia night returns! Three teams of three compete for glory in the familiar “Jeopardy!” format. Wine, prizes, and a surprise author or two. Hosted by Ryan Chapman and sponsored by Atavist Books. Participating authors include Jennifer Gilmore and Jonathan Ames.
Location: BookCourt, 163 Court St. (btw. Pacific and Dean St)
Time: 7:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.bookcourt.com

ringShout: A Place For Black Literature celebrates its 4th annual reading series. Join ringShout for its annual Bookend evening of readings and conversations with three exciting new writers of the African Diaspora: Kiese Laymon(Long Division), Sheri Booker (Nine Years Under) and Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, reading from her work-in-progress. Co-sponsored by the Franklin Park Reading Series. Media support by Bold As Love Magazine.
Location: Franklin Park Bar and Beer Garden, 618 St. John’s Place btw. Classon Ave. & Franklin Ave.
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Price: $6 (includes one drink)
Website: www.theringshout.com, www.franklinparkbrooklyn.com

Imprint Launch: Lizzie Skurnick Books, with Lois Duncan. Jezebel.com columnist and author Lizzie Skurnickcelebrates the launch of her Brooklyn-based publishing imprint, which will publish beloved out-of-print YA novels. YA novelist Lois Duncan will join.
Location: powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St. at Water St. (DUMBO)
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.powerhousearena.com

Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark. Author Tony Robins, New York Transit Museum Director Gabrielle Shubert and archivist Carey Stumm discuss the complex and fascinating process of researching and writing the new book, Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark.
Location: New York Transit Museum, 130 Livingston St. (Corner of Boerum Place & Schermerhorn St.)
Time: 6:30 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.mta.info/museum

Animal Farm Reading Series. Animal Farm is Brooklyn’s destination for the newest and best writing, in any genre, with a satirical and/or critical point of view. Featuring Adam Langer (The Thieves of Manhattan), Kiese Laymon (Long Division),Erin Gloria Ryan, and Jennifer DeMeritt.
Location: Over the Eight, 594 Union Ave. at North 11th St.
Time: 8:00 PM
Location: Free
Website: www.animalfarmnyc.com

Wednesday, September 18th

ABC Trivia. Huffington Post Books teams up with the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses for the third installment of ABC (arts, books, and culture) trivia. Co-hosted by CLMP editors Rob Spillman (Tin House) and Hannah Tinti (One Story), this team-based showdown is dive bar quiz with a literary twist. Are you up for the challenge? Test yourself with speed rounds like Name That Cover, First Line/Last Line, and more. Don’t miss this chance to drink in the name of reading, vie for the best booby prize, and win bragging rights forever.
Location: 61 Local, 61 Bergen St.
Time: 7:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: http://clmporg.tumblr.com/events

RSVP: [email protected]

Fellow Travelers. This reading features two up-and coming NYC-based authors: Chavisa Woods (The Albino Album) and Stephen Boyer (Parasite), whose novels follow the lives of queer teenage runaways, one in search of true love and the other in search of something to blow up. With special guest poet Tommy Pico.
Location: Goodbye Blue Monday, 1087 Broadway (Btw. Broadway & Lawton)
Time: 7:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.goodbye-blue-monday.com, www.sevenstories.com, www.publicationstudio.biz

Book Launch: Oil & Honey by Bill McKibben. In this personal account of climate activism, the bestselling author and environmentalist leads a protest against the building of the Keystone XL pipeline and helps raise hives with a Vermont beekeeper.
Location: powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St. at Water St.
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.powerhousearena.com

Secrets of Publishing Panel. The panel, aimed at students, will spill the secrets of how to break into publishing book reviews, features, fiction and nonfiction books, with panelists: agent Julie Just; Norton book editor Tom Mayer; New York Times editor Jennifer McDonald; O.com book editor Leigh Newman; Scribner’s editor Colin Harrison; Brooklyn Raileditor John Reed. Moderated by author/writing professor Susan Shapiro. 10% of all book sales go to PEN Emergency Writer’s Fund.
Location: Park Slope Barnes and Nobles, 267 5th Ave.
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Price: Free

Pitchapalooza. It’s like American Idol for books: Writers get one minute to pitch their books to a panel of publishing experts. The winner gets an introduction to an agent or publisher.
Location: Dweck Center, Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza (Eastern Pkwy and Flatbush Ave.)
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.thebookdoctors.com, www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org

Be Not Proud: Lapham’s Quarterly presents “Death.” A launch event for the fall issue of Lapham’s Quarterly, featuring the writing of Emily Dickinson, John Donne, Joseph Heller, Mary Roach, Carl Jung, Wallace Stevens, Ovid, W.H. Auden, Albert Camus and more.
Location: Community Bookstore, 143 7th Ave. Brooklyn (Btw. Garfield and Carroll)
Time: 7:30 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.communitybookstore.net/events

A Celebration with The Baffler and Melville House. The Baffler and Melville House celebrate the launch of Issue 23 ofThe Baffler and the publication of James Agee’s Cotton Tenants (co-published by The Baffler and Melville House), withBaffler editors John Summers, Chris Lehmann, and David Graeber. Beer and refreshments provided by Submittable.
Location: Melville House, 145 Plymouth St., on the corner of Plymouth and Pearl
Time: 7:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.mhpbooks.com

Book Launch: Art Spiegelman presents Co-Mix. Greenlight hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Art Spiegelman, for the bookstore launch of his new book Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps. Spiegelman presents a talk and slideshow about his work and signs copies of Co–Mix for fans.
Location: Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton St., corner of South Portland
Time: 7:30 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.greenlightbookstore.com

Soft Shadows: A Celebration of the Short Story. Gregory Spatz, Clifford Thompson, Dawn Raffel, and Ron Parsans will read and discuss their work and their favorite short stories. Audience members will be invited to share the first paragraph of their favorite short fiction (open mic style).
Location: The Old Stone House of Park Slope, 336 Third St. (btw. 4th and 5th Ave.)
Time: 8:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.theoldstonehouse.org, www.facebook.com/brooklynreadingworks

The Films of Alfred Hayes. To celebrate NYRB’s reprinting of Alfred Hayes’s novels My Face 8for the World to See and In Love, BAMcinematek will present a two day series connecting his prose style to his work as a screenwriter, including screenings of his Italian neo-realist films (Bicycle Thieves, Paisan) and his work for Hollywood (Human Desire, Clash By Night, The Lusty Men).

Location: BAM, 30 Lafayette Ave. (Btw. Ashland and St. Felix)

Time: 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM

Price: $13/general admission/$8 BAM members

Website: www.bam.org

Thursday, September 19th

Librarian Olympics: Dan Wilbur, Carmela Cuiraru and Victor LaValle. A test of the mental and physical endurance of librarians.
Location: Rock Shop, 249 4th Ave.
Time: 8:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org

Brooklyn Past and Present. Past and current Brooklyn historians John B. Manbeck and Ron Schweiger in conversation.
Location: Fort Hamilton Senior Recreation Center, 9941 Fort Hamilton Pkwy (btw. 100th St. and Ft. Hamilton)
Time: 1:30 – 3:00 PM
Price: Free

Catherine Gigante-Brown’s The El at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. BLDG 92 invites you to step back in time at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Author Catherine Gigante-Brown delivers a dramatic reading from her stirring historic novel, The El. Sitting among industrial buildings, guests will experience the Yard through the eyes of ten-year old Tiger as he visits his grandfather, shipwright and foreman overseeing construction of the USS Brooklyn.
Location: Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92, 63 Flushing Ave. (at Carlton and Flushing Ave.).
Time: 6:30 PM
Price: $5
Website: www.bldg92.org

The Art and Politics Party: Guernica Magazine, CultureStrike and the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Folks who think political dissidents are cute and overworked editors are sexy should join us to celebrate online publishing, art, politics, and the end of summer. Come to have a drink, stay for the DJ and the pop-up art exhibit featuring posters from CultureStrike artists.

Location: Huckleberry Bar, 588 Grand St. (btw. Lorimer and Leonard)

Time: 7:00 PM (happy hour until 9:00 PM)

Price: Free

Website: www.huckleberrybar.com

Book Signing by Rich Aste. At the exclusive Members Opening of the exhibition Behind Closed Doors: Art in the Spanish American Home 1492-1898, meet Rich Aste, who is the author and curator of this new exhibition featuring world class Spanish Colonial arts and paintings. The exclusive exhibition catalogs will be offered at a 15% discount.
Location: Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Pkwy at Washington Ave.
Time: 7:00 pm
Price: $

Website: www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/behind_closed_doors

Reporting Religion: Dispatches from the Fault Line of Christianity and Islam. Eliza Griswold will speak on her 2010 NYT bestselling book, The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line between Christianity and Islam. Griswold’s reportage on religion, conflict and human rights and poetry are widely published. She is currently at work on a collection of poems by Afghan women.
Location: St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, 157 Montague St. (at Clinton St.)
Time: 7:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.stannholytrinity.org

Slam Bam Thank You Ma’am. Literary improvisation at its finest. The audience suggests the prompts, shares work and judges each other! The competition is fueled by the bravery of its participants, who all hope to get their hand in the prize bag. Think “Whose Line is it Anyway” mixed with Henry Rollins.
Location: Pacific Standard, 82 Fourth Ave.
Time: 7:00 PM
Price: Free
Website: www.pbq.drexel.edu, www.pacificstandardbrooklyn.com

Book Launch & Tribute: A Colossal Wreck: A Road Trip Through Political Scandal, Corruption, and American Culture by Alexander Cockburn. Written just prior to his death in July 2012, Cockburn’s memoir is a riotous road trip through nearly two decades of American culture and politics. Daisy Cockburn, Laura Flanders, Justin Raimondo, and others read and reflect upon the late journalist’s work.
Location: powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St. at Water St.
Time: 7:00 – 9:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.powerhousearena.com

Late Night Library’s Second Annual Battle of the Debut Books. Debut works by poets and writers featured by Light Night Library, including Laren McClung, Sarah Gerkensmeyer, Hannah Rebecca Gamble, and Monica Wesolowska, are pitted against one another in an audience-judged, no-holds-barred tournament with the victor crowned Late Night Library’s 2013 Battle of the Books Champion. Hosted by Adam Wilson.

Location: Brooklyn Fire Proof, 119 Ingraham St. (btw. Porter Ave. and Knickerbocker Ave.)

Time: 7:00 – 10:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.brooklynfireproof.com

The Best in Caribbean Literature, presented by Akashic Books, Bocas Lit Fest, MoCADA, and Caribbean Cultural Theatre. Featuring Robert Antoni (As Flies to Whatless Boys), Montague Kobbé (The Night of the Rambler), Oonya Kempadoo (All Decent Animals), Elsie Augustave (The Roving Tree), Barbara Jenkins (Sic Transit Wagon), Diana McCaulay (Huracan), and Ifeona Fulani (Ten Days in Jamaica).

Location: MoCADA, 80 Hanson Place (btw. S. Portland & S. Elliott)

Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.akashicbooks.com

Comics Extravaganza. Presenting the debut of Argentine comics star Liniers. Featuring live painting, projections, and music, along with other high profile artists such as Jeff Smith and Francoise Mouly, the event will bring together art and book lovers, comics fans, and the Hispanic community.

Location: BookCourt, 163 Court St. (btw. Pacific & Dean St)

Time: 7:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.toon-books.com

The Films of Alfred Hayes. To celebrate NYRB’s reprinting of Alfred Hayes’s novels My Face for the World to See and In Love. The second event in BAMcinematek’s two-day series.

Location: BAM, 30 Lafayette Ave (btw. Ashland and St. Felix)

Time: 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM

Price: $13/general admission/$8 BAM members

Website: www.bam.org

Friday, September 20th

Iris Wilson presents FELA! Let Music Be The Weapon. Join us for an Author Reading of, FELA! Let Music be the Weapon, written by author, dancer, and educator Iris Wilson and Illustrated by her son Nangwaya Gibson. Nangwaya will be demonstrating some of his illustrations from the book. It is a family friendly book about the life of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Released by Kalakuta Sunrise Publishing, FELA! Let Music be the Weapon is written in a poetic format, and introduces children age 6 and above to the life of Fela Kuti; from his education throughout his journey as a musician. Booking signing to follow.

Location:145 Brooklyn Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11213 (btw. St. Marks Ave. and Prospect Pl.)

Time: 4:00 – 4:40 PM

Price: Free with museum admission ($9)

Website: www.brooklynkids.org

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas Are Well and Alive and Living in Brooklyn. To celebrate the 80th anniversary ofThe Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein, author and artist Filip Noterdaeme and his partner, entertainerDaniel Isengart, read and compare excerpts from Stein’s legendary conceptual memoir and Noterdaeme’s postmodern homage to it, The Autobiography of Daniel J. Isengart (2013), a frontline account of the downtown performance scene, a critique of established art world institutions, and a remarkable love story.

Location: Brooklyn Public Library, DWECK Auditorium, 10 Grand Army Plaza.

Time: after 7:00 PM

Price: Free

Poets & Passion – A Caribbean Literary Lime. A book party with a decidedly easy tropical flare! An inviting opportunity for audiences to engage Caribbean and Caribbean-American fiction writers and poets, and positions the writers’ work as part of a larger conversation on issues of identity, aspiration, heritage and the immigrant experience. Featuring Hermina Marcellin, David Mills, Ras Osagyefo. Open mic session follows.

Location: Delroy’s Café, 14 Duryea Place (btw. Flatbush & Tilden Aves)

Time: 7:30 PM

Price: $10

Website: www.caribbeantheatre.org

World Voices Festival Obsession Comes to Brooklyn with Téa Obreht. PEN’s World Voices Festival sends its popular Obsession series across the river for a special Obsession event in honor of the Brooklyn Book Festival. This conversation series looks to draw a magnifying glass over the relationship between writer and subject. For one night only, audience members will be invited into an intimate and unusual venue for this special nighttime soiree. Expect to be surprised as Téa Obreht speaks off the cuff about the topics that keep her up at night.

Location: Vertical Player Repertory, 219 Court St. (btw. Wykoff and Warren)

Time: 9:00 – 10:00 PM

Price: $15 ($10 for PEN Members)

Website: www.vpropera.org

A Musical Evening with The Starry Mountain Sweetheart Band. An evening of rock and roll bowling with writer bands The Starry Mountain Sweetheart Band (Cornell’s MFA program) and the Effin’G’s, and NYC soft rock heroes Sport of Kings.

Location: The Gutter, 200 N 14th St. (btw. Berry and Wythe)

Time: 9:30 PM

Price: $5

Website: www.thegutterbrooklyn.com

Brooklyn Poets Reading Series. Featuring readings by poets Natalie Diaz, Cornelius Eady and Rachel Eliza Griffithsalong with a special performance by Cornelius Eady’s band, Rough Magic. Wine, beer and light refreshments will be served.

Location: Studio 10, 56 Bogart St at Harrison Pl.

Time: 7:00-9:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.brooklynpoets.org

Fourth Annual Brooklyn Indie Party! Greenlight partners with some of Brooklyn’s best independent book and magazine publishers to throw a Brooklyn-sized party celebrating the spirit of literary independence in Brooklyn with food, drinks and music! Partygoers will mingle with the borough’s great authors and publishers, discover new works, and celebrate Brooklyn Book Festival week.

Location: Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton St., corner of South Portland

Time: 7:30 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.greenlightbookstore.com

Literary Past, Present, Future: Three of Brooklyn’s most ardent supporters of literary culture, The Sackett Street Writer’s Workshop, LargeHearted Boy music & literature blog, and SLICE Literary Magazine, present a night of readings by three critically acclaimed authors—Joyce Johnson (Minor Characters), Alissa Nutting (Tampa), and Gabriel Roth (The Unknowns)—plus giveaways and complimentary refreshments by Brooklyn’s own SixPoint Brewery. Hosted by Julia Fierro, David Gutowski, Maria Gagliano and Celia Johnson.

Location: BookCourt, 163 Court St. (btw. Pacific & Dean St.)

Time: 7:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.bookcourt.com, www.blog.largeheartedboy.com, www.slicemagazine.org, www.sackettworkshop.com

Love and Karaoke with Rob Sheffield. Journalist, author and avid karaoke fan Rob Sheffield will host a special karaoke night in honor of his new book, Turn Around Bright Eyes. Tickets are limited and good towards $10 off the book. They include refreshments and a turn at the mic!

Location: WORD, 126 Franklin St. (Franklin St. & Milton St.)

Time: 7:00 PM

Price: $10

Website: www.wordbrooklyn.com

Milton’s PARADISE LOST and Rare Books from the Yuko Nii Foundation. The Gold Illuminated Paradise Lost Elephant Folio and rare antique books in the collection of the Yuko Nii Foundation are on display, including the second folio of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hamlet. Plus lecture and presentation.
Location: Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, 135 Broadway
Time: 3:00 PM
Price: $5
Website: www.wahcenter.net

Saturday, September 21st

Italian American Authors, American Book Award Winners Read from New Books. Daniela Gioseffi (Pioneering Italian American Culture), James Periconi, (Strangers in a Strange Land), Anthony J. Tamburri and Robert Viscusi (Ellis Island) read from new Bordighera Press books.

Location: Brooklyn Historical Society Library, 128 Pierrepont St.

Time: 2:00 – 3:30 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.bordigherapress.org

HCX| Salon d’Haiti. Join Haiti Cultural Exchange and the Brooklyn Book Festival for a special Bookend Event. Enjoy readings by noted Haitian educator, choreographer, and author Elsie Augustave from her new novel The Roving Tree. Special guest Edwidge Danticat discussing aspects of her career and her newest novel, Claire of the Sea Light.

Location: FiveMyles Gallery, 558 St. Johns Place (btw. Franklin Ave. & Classon Ave.)

Time: 3:00 – 6:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.haiticulturalx.org

Family Friendly Animal Authors at Two Cool Places. Tori Nighthawk and Marcellus Hall.

Location: New York Aquarium

Time: 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Price: Free with admission

Website: www.nyaquarium.com

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Location: Prospect Park Zoo, 450 Flatbush Ave

Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Price: Free with admission

Website: www.prospectparkzoo.org

Jumping Out of Boxes: Celebrating Gender Creativity in Children’s Books. Join sex educator Cory Silverberg(What Makes a Baby) and Melanie Hope Greenberg (Mermaids on Parade) for a celebration of gender diversity in children’s books. There will be stories for kids, a discussion for adults, and coloring and snacks for every one!

Location: BookCourt, 163 Court St. (btw. Pacific & Dean St)

Time: 1:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.bookcourt.com

A Literary Salon: A Conversation with Authors Wil Haygood and Pamela Newkirk. Award-winning journalist Wil Haygood and NYU professor Pamela Newkirk discuss Haywood’s recent book The Butler: A Witness to History (current movie) about Eugene Allen, who served eight presidents as the White House’s head butler from 1952 to 1986. Book-signing and reception follow the program.

Location: Skylight Gallery at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp., 1368 Fulton St. (btw. New York and Brooklyn Aves.)

Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.centerforblackliterature.org

Fall into Fantagraphics Book Party. A book signing with five Fantagraphics Books’ cartoonists and their newest graphic novels. Ed Piskor (Hip Hop Family Tree), Leslie Stein (Eye of the Majestic Creature Vol. 2), Charles Forsman (The End of the Fucking World), Ulli Lust (Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life) and Tom Kaczynski (Beta Testing the Apocalypse).

Location: Bergen Street Comics, 470 Bergen St. (btw. Flatbush and 5th Ave.)

Time: 8:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.bergenstreetcomics.com

Bushwick Book Club and Hip Hop Book Club present original music inspired by A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Local singer-songwriters, bands and hip hop artists perform new, original music inspired by A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

Location: Prospect Park Bandshell, located inside the Park at the 9th St./Prospect Park West entrance.

Time: 2:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.bushwickbookclub.com

Charlotte’s Web. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the beloved animated film adaptation of Charlotte’s Web, BAMcinematek will present simultaneous family matinee screenings of the 1973 (animated) and 2006 (live action) adaptations.

Location: Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave (btw. Ashland and St. Felix)

Time: 11:00 AM

Price: $13 adult/$9 children/$8 BAM members

Website: www.bam.org

Tour Prospect Park: Olmsted and Vaux’s Brooklyn Masterpiece. An insider’s look at the history of Prospect Park, featuring authors David Colley and Elizabeth Keegin Colley, former Park Administrator and Founding Prospect Park Alliance President Tupper Thomas, and current Park Administrator and Alliance President Emily Lloyd. Followed by a tour of Prospect Park, led by Landscape Architect Christian Zimmerman.

Location: Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza (at Flatbush Ave. and Eastern Pkwy)

Time: 2:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org, www.prospectpark.org

Photoville. A feisty mix of exhibitions, lectures, hands-on workshops, night-time projections and more, creating a photography destination like no other. From 12 – 6 P.M. Indie Book Photo Library, Conveyor Arts Reading Room, Photoville Book Tent, Photo Book Workshops for kids and adults, plus author events with Anais Lopez (Only in Burundi), Wayne Lawrence (Orchard Beach). Gerard H. Gaskin (Legendary: Inside the House Ballroom Scene), and panel discussions on Family Matters – Photography in Close Relation and Editing a Photo Book. 8 – 10 PM. Join the 10th anniversary celebration for Daylight Books.

Location: Pier 5 in Brooklyn Bridge Park

Time: 12:00 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.photovillenyc.org

Sunday, September 22nd

Strings and Slam Poets. Twenty-year-old poet and Bed-Stuy native Ishmael Islam was named the New York Youth Poet Laureate in 2012, and now he teams up with members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic to take the spoken word tradition into the 21st Century. This multi-faceted concert intertwines selections from Islam’s debut collection, Meet at Greene, with contemporary chamber music for strings by Mark Mellits, Don Byron, and Randall Woolf.

Location: Granit Prospect, Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park (enter at Old Fulton and Furman St.)

Time: 6:00 – 7:30 PM

Price: Free

Website: www.brooklynbridgepark.org

Blondes, Screwing, and Insanity. Join comedians and debut authors Mindy Raf (The Symptoms of My Insanity), Ophira Eisenberg (Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy) and Selena Coppock (The New Rules for Blondes) for a night of stand-up, storytelling, music, and special “story behind the story” panel about how comedy gets from the stage to the page.

Location: Union Hall, 702 Union St. (5th and 6th Ave.)

Time: 7:00 PM

Price: $5

Website: www.unionhallny.com

Literary “Tailgate” 2013. MAKE: A Literary Magazine and Wakefield Media/Uncubed invite you to the second annual Literary Tailgate—a SpArts mash-up combining football, literature, and music. Watch as two teams of writers and musicians attempt to gain yards and score points with their original work. Players and coaches include Dorothea Lasky, Matthew Rohrer, Guy Cimbalo, and many more!

Location: Brooklyn Brewery, 79 N 11th St.

Time: 7:00 PM

Price: $

Website: www.makemag.com