Brooklyn Book Festival 2010 Here I come!
Brooklyn Bridge
I’ve been living in the NYC area for a little over three years and have never been to any of the boroughs, except for Queens, so I am stoked about the Brooklyn Book Festival coming up next Sunday (September 12) and have big plans to bike across the Brooklyn Bridge from the World Trade Center PATH. We’ll see how that goes. I’ll also be meeting up with MFA Mom who happens to be my wife as my sister-in-law graciously offered to babysit.
10:00 A.M.
It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll (But I Like It). Musically inspired readings by three chart-topping American fiction writers: Steve Almond (Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life), Jennifer Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad), and Colson Whitehead (Sag Harbor). Followed by Q&A. ST. FRANCIS AUDITORIUM
Past Is Not Past. Brooklyn Book Festival presents the cream of the crop of today’s historical fiction. Readings by Marlon James (The Book of Night Women), Dennis Lehane (The Given Day), and Bernice L. McFadden (Glorious), followed by Q&A.BOROUGH HALL COURTROOM
1:00 P.M.
Brooklyn’s Cookin’. Brooklyn is the cherry on top of the foodie movement. Join Edible Brooklyn’s Rachel Wharton and popular Brooklyn chefs Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo (The Frankies Spuntino: Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual), Ramin Ganeshram (Sweet Hands: Island Cooking from Trinidad & Tobago), and Amy Besa (Memories of Philippine Kitchens) for some Brooklyn cookin’ talk. NORTH STAGE
Happily Ever After? Lauren Oliver (Before I Fall), Jenny Han (It’s Not Summer Without You), and Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars) talk about characters who are forced to relive their past and come to terms with haunting memories after committing terrible acts. Moderated by Kirsten Miller (The Eternal Ones).THE YOUTH STOOP
Finding the Funny: The Humor of the Everyday. Humorists John Hodgman(The Areas of My Expertise), Sloane Crosley (How Did You Get This Number), and Kristen Schaal and Rich Blomquist (The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex) discuss their work.BOROUGH HALL COURTROOM
Live from the NYPL PRESENTS: The Pleasure Seekers: Salman Rushdie in Conversation with Tishani Doshi. Salman Rushdie talks to novelist, poet and dancer Tishani Doshi about her acclaimed new novel The Pleasure Seekersand about Indian-Pakistani literature and diaspora-Indian literature in general, poetry, dance and, perhaps, the delights of Goan fish curry and chocolate Ganeshes. Introduced by Paul Holdengräber. ST. FRANCIS AUDITORIUM.
It surprised me to be interested in attending “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)” which uses “musically inspired readings by three chart-topping American fiction writers: Steve Almond (Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life), Jennifer Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad), and Colson Whitehead (Sag Harbor). ” I have never been drawn to music in fiction as a theme, but as soon as I saw Steve Almond’s name, I was instantly down to check it out. Not only because of his publishing an open resignation (he was an adjunct professor of creative writing at Boston College) in the Boston Globe to protest Condoleeza Rice speaking at the 2006 Commencement, but he is very eclectic in his writing. I remember reading one of his short-stories in college (can’t remember the name) that was all about shagging. And any man who can write a memoir on being a candy freak has to have something interesting to say. But perhaps the number one reason I think he’s the man is this scathing review of his memoir and a vicious attack on who Steve Almond is as a person . . . available on his site and it’s written by . . .
I’ll give you an update on my overall experience and some of the highlights next week. Hope to see some of you there, amidst the crowd of 30,000. Wear bright colors =)
