Event time: 3-4pm

Ruler of the Ruins: Absolute Power and the Breaking of America

Join Pulitzer Prize-winning NYT journalist Maggie Haberman (Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, co-authored by Jonathan Swan) and National Book Award-winning author George Packer (The Emergency) for a cross-genre conversation about unfettered executive power and institutional erosion in an age of polarization. Combining Packer’s allegorical lens of fictional societal collapse with Haberman’s […]

Strangers in a Strange Land

There are many ways to be made to feel like an outsider. In Rahul Bhattacharya’s Railsong a transplant to the big city of Bombay learns to find her footing — and sense of self — navigating the train lines that criss-cross the city and country. While in A. Igoni Barrett’s satirical Whyteface, a Nigerian man […]

New Works: A Poetry Reading

Poets Will Brewer (Nocturama), Peggy Robles-Alvarado (Burn Me Back), Maya C. Popa (If You Love That Lady), and R. A. Villanueva (A Holy Dread) read from their new volumes of poetry. Introduced by Parker Menzimer, Public Programs Director, Poetry Society of America.

The Places We Carry

Home can be the place a person come from, the place they long to escape, and the place that continues to shape them long after they have left. In Douglas Stuart’s John of John, Cal returns to the remote Isle of Harris and to his father, whose expectations of his son clash with Cal’s struggle […]

Liberation Sounds

Music and the people who produce it are an engine of cultural change and transformation. Jibola Fagbamiye’s Fela: Music Is the Weapon documents the larger-than-life music and activism of Fela Kuti. After being influenced by the Black Power movement, Kuti became one of the principal innovators of Afrobeat, as well as a dedicated political activist […]

250 Years in Search of a More Perfect Union, presented by The Nation

A conversation about what it will take to preserve our freedom, our democracy, and our future for the next 250 years—and what the last 250 have taught us about the work still unfinished. As the nation marks a quarter-millennium since its founding, this panel brings together historians, poets, journalists and policy experts to explore what […]

The Cost of Fame

They say the higher you climb, the harder you fall, and the pursuit of fame across all disciplines comes with unexpected consequences. In Emma Straub’s American Fantasy, a beloved 90s boy band reunion on a cruise ship tests the limits of fandom with its now older fan base. In Teddy Wayne’s The Au Pair, a […]

What We Inherit, What We Retell

How and why do the stories we inherit become part of the narratives we tell about ourselves? Drawing on myth, song, literature, and cultural memory, internationally acclaimed authors Sinan Antoon, Violaine Huisman, and Valeria Luiselli discuss intertextuality as a way of thinking through memory, exile, family, history, and identity in their respective novels, Of Loss […]

The Consequences of Desire

Desire can be liberating, dangerous, exhilarating, and destructive—and the pursuit of it can expose the complicated power dynamics beneath our most intimate relationships. In Emma Copley Eisenberg’s Fat Swim, characters confront the ways bodies are watched, judged, desired, and remembered, finding connection in a world that often asks them to see themselves through the eyes […]

Authors & Escapades

Can you help three intrepid Middle Grade authors complete a fantasy roleplaying quest? Play along as Kate Milford (Rialto), Jorge Aguirre (Monster Locker: Nine-Tail Trouble), and Nick Eliopulos (Roll for Danger: The Cursed Catacombs) use their wits and their dice to take on an adventure moderated by Maiia Lysytska, a Game Master from The Dungeon […]

Snack-tastic Silliness with Sam Wedelich!

Join author-illustrator Sam Wedelich as she reads from her hilarious picture book, A Quick Trip to the Store, then guides kids and their grownups in creating their own delicious (or ghastly!) silly cereal or snack design.

Storytime and Craft with Author Angela Quezada Padron

Fresh off the World Cup, join author Angela Quezada Padron in an interactive read aloud of her soccer-themed book, Lucía’s Goals. Create finger soccer characters and cheer on Lucía as she strives to become the best soccer player in town and achieve her goooooooals!

Storytellers: Muslims, Community, and Culture in America (In Person)

Twenty-five years after 9/11, stories about American Muslims have too often been told by others. This conversation explores the power of communities telling their own stories through Storytellers: Muslims, Community, and Culture in America, a nationally distributed public radio documentary. Join reporting lead Aida Alami and comedian and host Sabeen Sadiq for a discussion about […]

Clash of the Creators: Illustrator Draw-Off

Dueling sharpies, speeding markers, live action drawing! Get your hands ready to clap for your favorites as beloved illustrators Vashti Harrison (That You Are Here Is No Small Thing), Gillian Reid (Mac Wears a Hat), Vikki Chu (Wake Up, Poppyville!), and Elisha Cooper (The Rare Bird) battle it out in a lively, audience inspired contest […]

Eduardo Halfon and María José de Tellería – The Green Otter

A tiny green otter who wins over the heart of the young boy in a story that speaks to every child with a beloved and unique friend. Author Eduardo Halfon reads and illustrator María José de Tellería draws as they tell the story of a small boy inseparable from his green otter. 

Jason Douglas Griffin – Be the Acorn

When told he is too little to help the family find a new home, young squirrel Choko Choko is more determined than ever to prove everyone wrong. Caldecott Honoree Jason Douglas Griffin teaches readers to dream big in this inspiring book. 

The Crucible of Self-Discovery: Finding Yourself Through Fiction (Virtual)

Join Queer Indie and The Writing Community Chat Show for this panel on toxic perfectionism, creativity in survival mode, neurodivergent imagination, alternative methods of productivity, writing through trauma, and unraveling self-doubt. This discussion features authors and content creators from Queer Indie’s directory: C. J. Aggett, Anna Bloom, Dr. Mario Dell’Olio, Ross Young, Halo Scot, Anya […]

Between the Page & Stage: Staten Island Youth Open Mic & Author Reading (In Person)

That’s Right Open Mic teams up with Nuyorican Poets Cafe and Staten Island Urban Center to celebrate local voices. On Saturday, September 26th from 3:00-6:00 PM at the Staten Island Urban Center, local young creators (ages 12–24) will share their art and lived experiences. The evening continues with a reading and Q&A with NYC author […]

Odesa in Odyssey: Navigating Forms, Languages, and Cultures (In Person)

Odesa, Ukraine, is a city of wit, warmth, and, not for the first time, war. Panelists will read and discuss original work and translations rooted in the city. Natalya Sukhonos (Sunlight Trapped in Stone) explores her heritage, immigration, and Russia’s ongoing invasion in her latest poetry collection. Ian Ross Singleton reveals how Yuri Yanovsky‘s The […]

Three Bites, One Big Apple: NYC in Comics

Locals and tourists alike can agree that New York City is a metropolis of multitudes and that therein lies its enduring allure. In Katie Fricas’ Checked Out, a library worker oscillates between retail heartbreak and archival excitement as she dates around town while writing a story of heroic WWI carrier pigeons. Elsewhere, writers become detectives, […]

NBF Presents: Friendship that Inspires

Hear author and 5 Under 35 honoree Weike Wang as she reads from her new work, Rental House, followed by a discussion about writing in and about New York, literary mentorships, and how friendship (and writing) evolves over time. Wang is joined in conversation by Ruth Dickey, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. Presented […]

The Unconventional Playbook

In Kristen Arnett’s Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One, a down-on-her-luck professional clown meets a successful older lesbian magician who provides a way to improve her act, but at what cost? In Kashana Cauley’s The Payback, a woman pursued by the Debt Police decides to take matters into her own hands with two other […]

How We Listen

Music does not exist in a vacuum but rather comes to life via its interplay with the listener and environment or devices through which it is experienced. When David Byrne explored these ideas in How Music Works (2012), streaming was still in its infancy. Now, a panel of distinguished music writers pick up where Byrne […]

Who? New!

Each season, BKBF presents several debut authors whom we want to shine the light on for our audience. This year we present Issa Quincy (Absence), Phoebe Greenwood (Vulture), Greg Hewett (No Names), and Olufunke Grace Bankole (The Edge of Water). This year, we welcome special guest, Joyce Carol Oates (Fox), who will introduce the authors […]

Motherhood & Daughterhood: What it Gives, What it Takes

There is a rich legacy of memoirs on mothering and being mothered, with each generation offering a new perspective on the relationship between mother and child and maternal archetypes—what we owe, let go of, and celebrate. Memoirists Molly Jong-Fast (How to Lose Your Mother), Amanda Hess (Second Life), and Hala Alyan (I’ll Tell You When […]

When Art Meets Politics

Whether you’re a modern teenager navigating spaces not built for people like you, uncovering a mystery centuries in the making, or falling in love against the backdrop of one of the darkest periods in Korean history, it’s impossible to separate our personal narratives from the political contexts in which we exist. Join authors Frederick Joseph […]

Greg Pizzoli – Earl and Worm

Earl and Worm have an unlikely friendship. Earl is a bird who plays the saxophone, and Worm is quite introverted and grouchy. At first, the pair do not get along, but Earl’s charm and sunny disposition win over Worm. Follow along with Earl and Worm as their friendship blossoms in this heartwarming story by author […]

Edwidge Danticat – Watch Out For Falling Iguanas

When the weather turns cold, look out above. That’s the advice when your grandmother warns you to watch out for falling iguanas. Find out in Edwidge Danticat’s enchanting story book about chilly iguanas and what children can learn about this unique creature.

What Makes A Feast for a Monster?

Join Meritxell Martí and Xavier Salomó, the creators of the flap book, A Monster’s Meal,  for a read-aloud of this delicious menu of monster meals. Then grab some markers and draw your favorite monster — scary or friendly — and its favorite feast (to be revealed under a flap). 

Loneliness and Exile

In this virtual panel, three novelists explore dislocation, belonging, and the search for connection. Sulaiman Addonia (The Seers) chronicles the early weeks of a young Eritrean refugee in London, following the intimate and erotic lives of asylum seekers. Sarah Moss (Ripeness) reveals family secrets woven into an English woman’s migration between 1960s Italy and modern […]

Naked on the Page

The premise of sharing intimate details of our lives can sound daunting, but in practice — sharing one’s life on the page with honesty, thoughtful consideration, and critique — can it actually allow us to get closer to ourselves? Join us for a conversation between Melissa Febos, author of The Dry Season, and Catherine Lacey, […]

Mental Health & Creativity: The Tortured Artist, or the Artist Tortures? (Virtual)

Queer Indie and the Writing Community Chat Show will host an interactive, live-streamed panel that will discuss the correlation of creativity with mental health. Topics will include the stereotype of the tortured artist, psychological blocks, how to persevere and find inspiration during mental health struggles, and whether suffering is necessary to understand the human condition […]

The Sounds of Subversion

Punk Rock and Hip-Hop have distinct ways of bringing words to life, but both are deeply connected with comics. Rooted in underground DIY culture, the melding of these art forms can challenge the social and personal status quo in profound ways. Bianca Xunise’s Punk Rock Karaoke is a joyous tale of young besties trying to […]

Ways of Surviving

In her debut Broughtupsy, Christina Cooke introduces 20-year-old Akúa as she attempts to reconstruct her fractured family by flying from Canada to her native Jamaica to reconnect with her estranged older sister with her younger brother’s ashes in tow. In Madwoman, Chelsea Bieker delves into the heart of what it really means to survive violence […]

An Ode to Irreverence

In Lexi Freiman’s The Book of Ayn, a writer travels from New York to Los Angeles to Lesbos as she searches for artistic and spiritual fulfillment in the path of Ayn Rand. In Rejection: Fictions, Tony Tulathimutte explores how our delusions affect our desire for connection in seven connected stories.  In How It Works Out, […]

The Magic of Color: Exploring Pigments & Art  with Steven Weinberg

What is Color? The Global and Sometimes Gross Story of Pigments, Paint, and the Wondrous World of Art author Steven Weinberg will lead children through an exciting introduction to color theory and pigment making—plus some good old-fashioned coloring, too! Materials will be provided so participants can color in pieces of art that are found in […]

Once Upon A Disappearance

Join Jennifer Croft, Laura van den Berg, and Jáchym Topol in a discussion about disappearances through different lenses—individual, environmental, and psychological. In The Extinction of Irena Rey, eight translators gather at a sprawling house in the ancient woods of Poland, prepared to translate beloved author Irena Rey’s latest work—unprepared to reckon with her sudden disappearance […]

Defining and Cultivating the New “Greater Good”

While the term “solidarity” is perhaps most associated with socialists and labor organizers, at its core the concept simply refers to uniting behind a common good. But how do we begin to carve out a common good in these times of extreme inequality and polarization? Is such a thing even possible? Astra Taylor (Solidarity: The […]

History, Reimagined

In this panel, authors Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Kristopher Jansma and Vanessa Chan take us on heartbreaking journeys filled with hope that change will come. Ruffin’s novel, The American Daughters, is a coming-of-age story following Ady, an enslaved young girl who joins a sisterhood of Black women working together to undermine Southern society. In Jansma’s Our […]

Alternate Realities

In Ed Park’s Same Bed Different Dreams, fiction and reality blur across time in an alternate history of Korea. Marie-Helene Bertino’s Beautyland follows Adina as she reports on humanity to her extraterrestrial relatives. This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripour brings us 500 years into the future where the world is divided into the Invisibles and […]

Great Expectations

Whether it’s creating an alter-ego for yourself in an online role-playing game, traversing the streets of New York to film a mockumentary about Ping-Pong, letting go of perfectionism in the wake of major tragedy, or entering into an admittedly hare-brained love coaching scheme, we often go to great lengths to contend with the expectations of […]

Finding Home

Poets Hala Alyan (The Moon That Turns You Back), Diego Báez (Yaguareté White), Armen Davoudian (The Palace of Forty Pillars), and Jive Poetic (Skip Tracer) read from their work and discuss how the poem can investigate family, place, memory, and archives. Moderated by Sarah Aziza.

Brooklyn Public Library’s Book Prize Winners’ Panel with Katy Waldman

Hear the winners of this year’s Brooklyn Public Library’s Book Prize discuss their work with journalist Katy Waldman, who will delve into the books’ inception and creation. Each fall, Brooklyn Public Library honors outstanding works of nonfiction and fiction/poetry with the BPL Book Prize. Past winners include Catherine Lacey, Lamya H, John Paul Brammer, Xochitl Gonzalez, […]

Draw Me A Story 

Come watch illustrators Ruth Chan (Uprooted) and Liz Montague (School for Unusual Magic 1: Equinox Test) draw a story live as emcee John Hendrix (The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien) weaves the tale from your audience suggestions!

This Modern Life

Join these authors in conversation as they confront the pivotal challenges of contemporary life. Brandon Taylor’s The Late Americans follows a group of friends and lovers in Iowa City as they navigate ambition, relationships, and class. Martin Riker’s The Guest Lecture delves into the mind of a young feminist economist through a crisis of the […]

Of Spirits and Monsters

From the peripheries of death, in a Taiwanese village, occupied Korea, and a decaying Mexican estate, come stories of lives marginalized by sexual orientation and class, and devastated by war and grief. In Kevin Chen’s Ghost Town (translated by Darryl Sterk) and Yu Miri’s The End of August (translated by Morgan Giles), the dead tell […]

Understanding Computer Security Principles With Legos and Chocolate

Computer security is one of the most misunderstood technologies.  Bring the kids and learn the principles that are used to design secure systems by examining structures built with Legos that were designed to protect chocolate pieces.  By seeing physical designs with different flaws, participants will be able to understand how design problems lead to weaknesses […]

Crayons! Oil Pastels! Create with Illustrator Marika Maijala

Finnish children’s book illustrator Marika Maijala will share Rosie Runs, her “triumphant escape story” of a racing dog who dreams of forests, meadows, hares, and freedom. She will guide an interactive drawing workshop in which kids can use crayons and oil pastels to create their own beautiful works of art.

Fantastical Wonders & Magical Stories

Join authors Isi Hendrix (Adia Kelbara and the Circle of Shamans), P. Djèlí Clark (Abeni’s Song), and Corey Ann Haydu (The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple & Dorothy) as they discuss their world building and epic quests that each of their characters take in their middle grade stories, in conversation with Brigid Martin (Totally Psychic!)

Laughing Through Life: Humor, Heart, and Honest Reflections

Get ready for a side-splitting and thought-provoking panel featuring authors and essayists Samantha Irby and Aparna Nancherla. In Quietly Hostile, Samantha Irby leads us through personal essays tackling life’s absurdities with a witty and candid perspective. Aparna Nancherla’s Unreliable Narrator weaves comedy and introspection into a unique experience of imposter syndrome. Led by Brian Vines, […]

Where Lurks the Darkness?

 Duplicitous spouses or stranger danger, climbing the career ladder or gun stocking survivalism – where does peril actually lurk and hide? Join NYT bestselling crime novelist Alafair Burke (Where Are The Children Now? sequel to Mary Clark Higgins blockbuster suspense novel Where are the Children) and debut novelist Kashana Cauley (The Survivalists) as they discuss […]

Of Spirits and Monsters

From the peripheries of death, in a Taiwanese village, occupied Korea, and a decaying Mexican estate, come stories of lives marginalized by sexual orientation and class, and devastated by war and grief. In Kevin Chen’s Ghost Town (translated by Darryl Sterk) and Yu Miri’s The End of August (translated by Morgan Giles), the dead tell […]

Inventing Home: Poets on the Diaspora

Poets Marilyn Chin (Sage), Sahar Muradi (OCTOBERS), and Oliver de la Paz (The Diaspora Sonnets) read from their work and discuss how poems address ideas of displacement, exile, and what it means to carry “home” with you. Moderated by Hafizah Augustus Geter, Janklow & Nesbit.

Eat (with) the Rich

These three novels invite readers into the world of one-percenters, though not without some criticism.  In The Lemon, Joe Keohane (writing as S.E. Boyd) explores how the death of a renowned culinary TV host drives conflict in the worlds of high-end dining and low-end media. In Sheena Patel’s I’m a Fan, an anonymous narrator stalks […]

A Moment in Time

Discover how a single moment in history can ripple through time. Ben Fountain’s Devil Makes Three reveals the consequences of violent political upheaval in Haiti. Janika Oza’s A History of Burning investigates how one brutal act can haunt a family for generations. John Manuel Arias’s Where There Was Fire follows a mother and daughter as […]

New York, New York!

Whether it’s somewhere you dream of moving to one day, a place you met your very best friends, or a world in which you struggle to fit in, it’s hard to deny: there’s no city like New York City. Join acclaimed authors Don P. Hooper (True True), Patricia Park (Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of […]

Drag, Ballroom, and Cultural Consciousness

Drag and ballroom have long been fierce art forms, vehicles of self-expression, rebellion, celebration, and love. On this panel, authors Charles Busch (Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy), Elyssa Goodman (Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City), and Ricky Tucker (And the Category Is: Inside New York’s […]

This Modern Life

Join these authors in conversation as they confront the pivotal challenges of contemporary life. Brandon Taylor’s The Late Americans follows a group of friends and lovers in Iowa City as they navigate ambition, relationships, and class. Martin Riker’s The Guest Lecture delves into the mind of a young feminist economist through a crisis of the […]

Playing God: Building and Destroying Fictional Worlds and Characters (Virtual)

Queer Indie and the Writing Community Chat Show will host an interactive, live-streamed panel diving into the construction and destruction of fictional worlds and characters. Topics will include harvesting inspiration, various approaches to process, and how to incorporate realistic and relevant conflicts and motivations. Panelists include Dr. Mario Dell’Olio, TT Banks, Ash Knight, A.C. Merkel, […]