2016 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES LINEUP FOR *FULL WEEK* OF “BOOKEND” EVENTS! — SEPTEMBER 12 – 18
Week of 50+ hip, smart, diverse literary events in run-up to Sunday festival, presented with partners and independent bookstores in Brooklyn and NYC
BOOKEND EVENT AUTHORS INCLUDE: Patti Smith, Ann Patchett, Steve Buscemi, Rivka Galchen, Tanwi Nandini Islam, Mike Lupica, Susan Faludi, Walton Muyumba, Carl Hancock Rux, Olive Senior, R.L. Stine, Cecily von Ziegesar, Yaghoub Yadali, and more!
BROOKLYN, NY— Friday, August 26, 2016—New York City is indeed the capital of the literary world the week of September 12-18, 2016, when the Brooklyn Book Festival presents Bookends, more than 50 special events that highlight the literary diversity of New York City across the boroughs. Parties, film screenings, book launches and stand-up comic showcases are just part of the fresh, engaging entertainment leading up to the Brooklyn Book Festival’s main festival day on Sunday, September 18.
“We’re thrilled launch the Brooklyn Book Festival with a week of programs highlighting the dynamism and creative talent of the festival’s literary partners and publishers,” said BKBF Bookends Committee Co-Chair Paul W. Morris. “We have an incredible lineup of over 50 literary-themed events in multiple boroughs, in clubs, bookstores, libraries, theaters, and open spaces throughout the city. The programs range from an exciting kick-off dance party to film screenings to trivia nights to author appearances, and include programs by returning curators as well as many fresh new voices, all of whom contribute to the rich tapestry of New York City’s literary arts scene.”
“Each day offers a plethora of unique literary events,” said Carolyn Greer, Festival Co-Producer and Bookends Co-Chair, “As with fantastic restaurant menu, it’s impossible to experience everything. Think of it as a week-long literary binge!”
For the full schedule of Bookends, please visit www.brooklynbookfestival.org/bookends
BKBF “Bookend” Event highlights include:
Monday, September 12: See the New York premiere of After Adderall, a movie about what happens when James Franco makes a movie about you, directed by Stephen Elliott, featuring Nick Flynn, Marie Howe, Jerry Stahl, Susan Orlean and Michael C. Hall at Videology Cinema Bar (Brooklyn). The Opening Night Party will be at Bell House (Brooklyn), presented by several literary partners, including PEN America, Literary Hub, Catapult, Tumblr and Electric Literature.
Tuesday, September 13: R.L. Stine reads from his newest book (released the week of the Festival) Young Scrooge: A Very Scary Christmas Story, followed by a book-signing at the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Greenlight Books (Brooklyn) presents Ann Patchett launching her seventh book, Commonwealth, at St. Joseph’s College. Issue Project Room (Brooklyn) presents Erased Architecture, a celebration of the 100th anniversary of William S. Burroughs’s birth with a collage of sight and sound in performances by writer/actor Steve Buscemi and composer/multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp. Clara Bingham will discuss her book Witness to the Revolution at The Revolution Book Store (Harlem).
Wednesday, September 14: In a great event for kids, the all-star audio collection cast will read Grimm’s Fairy Tales at Bank Street Bookstore (Manhattan) in the late afternoon. That night, Cave Canem celebrates their 20th anniversary at the Weeksville Historical Society and Kaya Press and Kundiman host their first-ever literary pub quiz celebrating writers of color at the Asian American Arts Alliance (Brooklyn)—complete with prizes! The Bocas Literary Festival will be at the Old Stone House (Brooklyn) with Five Burning Voices from the Caribbean featuring authors and poets from Jamaica, Trinidad, the US Virgin Islands. Haven’t had enough of politics? The Baffler no. 32 is hosting a discussion about Managerial Liberalism and Our Discontent—is there liberal exhaustion? Do TV “strongmen” corrupt elections? Or head to La La Land by way of Queens where “the coolest girl to ever dump Hollywood” Mara Wilson reads from her memoir Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame at the Astoria Bookshop.
Thursday, September 15: Don’t miss African Synergy, a literary salon presented by the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College (Skylight Gallery, Bed-Stuy). First Second’s 10th Anniversary party and reading at Mama Says Comics Rock will feature Faith Evan Hicks. The incomparable Patti Smith reads from M Train at Congregation Beth Elohim, and Cuban rock star and bestselling science fiction author, Yoss, will take the stage at Issue Project Room to perform a few metal classics.
Friday, September 16: Authors Rivka Galchen and Heidi Julavits discuss the twin topics of Writing and Motherhood and Writing on Motherhood, hosted by Harper’s Magazine at Book Culture on Columbus (Manhattan). Greenlight Books and the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses host the Seventh Annual Brooklyn Indie Party to celebrate the literary independence of the borough and its Festival. H.I.P. Lit and the Rumpus are throwing the after-party, Dark Nights, Bright Lights—come for the author readings; stay for the music and dancing at Electric Studios.
Saturday, September 17: The day-long Brooklyn Book Festival Children’s Day will be in full swing, as well as more Bookends, including: Birding at the Bridge, author talk and bird watching presented by Freebird Books (Brooklyn); Queer Conflicts, a discussion of the narratives of the queer experience by activists, writers and historians, hosted by St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church (Brooklyn); Literati Present: The Comedy Book Fair 2016, an immersive comedy experience at Union Hall (Brooklyn); and Readings, Rum and Reasoning offers a “Caribbean Literary Lime,” co-presented by Caribbean Cultural Theatre, Caribbean Reads, and Read Jamaica (Brooklyn).
Sunday, September 18: Attend BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL “FESTIVAL DAY,” as well as a pre-Festival early Poetry and Yoga Stretch hosted by the Brooklyn Public Library and in the evening, City of Asylum presents Aliens of Extraordinary Talent—writers in exile reading from their works at LMHQ (Manhattan).
About the Brooklyn Book Festival
BKBF is presented by the non-profit Brooklyn Book Festival, Inc. and the Brooklyn Book Festival Literary Council. AT&T is the major sponsor with additional support from Amazon Literary Partnership, Boar’s Head, Brooklyn Borough President’s Office/NYC & Company Foundation, Con Edison, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, Forest City Ratner Companies, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, TD Bank and Louis Jadot. The festival’s media sponsors are abc7NY, and WNYC.
Cultural and programming partners include BAM, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn Public Library, Cave Canem, Center for Fiction, The Nation, National Book Foundation, New York Review of Books, PEN American Center, Poetry Society of America, Saint Ann’s School, St. Francis College, The Times Literary Supplement, Whiting Foundation.
The Bookends Committee includes Julie Buntin, Jamie Burns, Ryan Chapman, Mensah Demary, Hafizah Geter, Catherine LaSota, and Kellie Rogers.
See the BKBF author list HERE and below. Be sure to visitwww.brooklynbookfestival.org or check out the offical Facebook page, follow the Festival on Instagram (@bkbookfest), on Twitter (@BKBF), on Tumblr and past Festival photos on Flickr
