I know, I know. I’m supposed to be a champion of all the arts and culture that goes on outside the purview of New York City’s five boroughs. But this upcoming weekend, everyone—even some of your neighbors—seems to be heading to Brooklyn for the Brooklyn Book Festival.
The event, which takes place in downtown Brooklyn (right outside the Courthouse), pulls together writers—both Brooklynites and non-Brooklynites—organizing them into panels where they can read from their most recent books and discuss topics with writers who have covered similar themes and topics. Publishers, writers, periodicals, and illustrators also set up booths where you can browse and buy their wares. It is a bookworm’s dream.
This year, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jonathan Safran Foer, Colson Whitehead, Tom Perrotta, and Joyce Carol Oates will all be in attendance. But what local names can we find among the program list? Here are a few:
Roxana Robinson
The onetime or part-time Westchester resident reads from her book Cost as part of a panel on “family life gone awry in their fiction.”
Esmeralda Santiago
If you’re more of a history buff, Santiago, a Katonah resident, reads from Conquistadora as part of a program on historical fiction.
Russell Banks
The writer lives in upstate New York and his books often take place in the area, including the recent The Reserve, which is set in the Adirondacks. He’ll be reading from his new book, Lost Memory of Skin, which comes out later this month.
Jennifer Egan
I’ve talked about how much I enjoyed the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad before—and even more so because part of it takes place in Crandale, a fictional town in Westchester.
Judy Blundell
Blundell, a Katonah resident, wrote What I Saw and How I Lied, a young-adult book that won the National Book Award. She’ll be part of a YA panel titled “Reimagining History,” where authors talk about “what it takes to tap into and re-imagine unforgettable characters that bring us mystery and adventure wrapped in emotional and timeless settings.”
Ed Young
The award-winning author/illustrator, who lives in Westchester’s rivertowns, heads to the Target Children’s Area to read from The House Baba Built: An Artist’s Childhood in China.
Getting there: Take Metro-North to Grand Central Terminal, then take the 4 or 5 train downtown to Borough Hall.
So, what was your best summer read? Let me know in the comments.