Brooklyn Book Festival Hosts Its Fifth Year, 9/10 - 12

The Brooklyn Book Festival will be held Friday, September 10th to Sunday, September 12th. The Brooklyn Book Festival showcases more than 200 national and international authors in readings and panel discussions as well as 175 booksellers, publishers, presses and organizations in an outdoor literary marketplace. Also, poet John Ashbery will accept the "BoBi" award on Saturday at the Festival Gala.

With the extraordinary literary heritage, vibrant publishing community and international reading audience of Brooklyn and New York City as its backdrop, the Festival offers the best and brightest stars in contemporary literature. The hip, huge and free all-star literary lineup includes Salman Rushdie, Naomi Klein, Paul Auster, Nelson George, Sarah Silverman, Rosanne Cash, Paul Krugman, John Hodgman, Kristen Schaal, Sam Lipsyte, Sloane Crosley, Maaza Mengiste, and many more, as well as children's and young adult lit stars.

This year's expansion includes weekend-long "Bookend" events at the coolest venues in Brooklyn, including BAM, Bell House, Brooklyn Bridge Park, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Brooklyn Public Library, St. Ann's Warehouse, WORD and more.

The Brooklyn Book Festival is a huge, free public event presenting an array of literary stars and emerging authors who represent the exciting world of literature today. One of America's premier literary and literacy events, this hip, smart, diverse gathering attracts thousands of book lovers of all ages. The festival is organized around themed readings and devoted to timely and lively panel discussions. The inclusion of top national and international authors and new partners has expanded the festival's reach while continuing to celebrate and enhance Brooklyn's contemporary and historic literary reputation.

The full schedule is listed below:

FRIDAY

Secret History of the Dividing Line: A True Account in Nine Parts (Parts I-IV, 1999-2001). Light Industry presents a screening of David Gatten's unfinished 16mm film cycle, a project based around the life, writing and library of William Byrd II, a Virginia planter who owned one of the largest collections of books in Colonial North America.
Location: 177 Livingston Street
Time: 7:30pm
Price: $7

Brooklyn Indie Press Celebration! With Akashic, A Public Space, Archipelago, Armchair/Shotgun, BOMB, Electric Literature, Melville House, powerHouse, Tin House, and others. Brooklyn's finest independent publishers of books and periodicals come together at Greenlight Bookstore. Mingle with writers and publishers who make Brooklyn's literary scene, and enjoy refreshments and live DJs to kick off BKBF weekend.
Location: Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton Street (corner of S. Portland)
Time: 7:30 pm
Price: Free

WORD Presents an Intimate Conversation with John Waters. John Waters, the iconic filmmaker, actor and writer, comes to Greenpoint to talk about his new book Role Models with Carolyn Kellogg of the LA Times. For details, visit www.wordbrooklyn.com.
Location: Coco 66, 66 Greenpoint Ave.
Date: 8:00 pm
Price: $25.00 (includes copy of book)

DEBUT LIT presents "Opening Act," a flash reading of original work by literary rock stars. Reading will be written on a theme provided by Debut Lit. It's fun and it's fast. Readers include Aryn Kyle (The God of Animals), John Murillo (Up Jump the Boogie), Sung J. Woo (Everything Asian), Brooke Berman (No Place Like Home), Matt Stewart (French Revolution), Fiona Maazel (Last Last Chance) and Daphne Beal (In the Land of No Right Angels).
Location: powerhouse Books
Date: 7:00 pm
Price: Free

Books to Movies: The Sweet Hereafter (1997) Directed by Atom Egoyan. With Ian Holm, Sarah Polley. In this adaptation of Russell Banks' novel, a big city lawyer (Holm) descends on a small Canadian town following a tragic school bus accident to organize a civil action suit, while simultaneously mourning the loss of his own daughter to drug addiction. Atom Egoyan's masterpiece is a sensitive examination of overcoming grief. Q&A with author Russell Banks.
Location: BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue
Time: 7:30 pm
Price: $12 general admission / $8 BAM Cinema Club members

Literary Pub Contest staged by PEN American Center at St. Ann's Warehouse. The first ever PEN Quiz Night. Don't miss the chance to compete with (and against!) your favorite authors. We'll bring the paper and the pencils; you bring your literary meddle!
Location: St. Ann's Warehouse
Time: 7:00 - 10:00 pm; doors open at 7:00
Price: FREE

RingShout, a Place for Black Literature, kicks off its new reading series. Join us for an evening of readings by four acclaimed African-American writers. Featuring Ta-Nehisi Coates, Tayari Jones, Jeffrey Renard Allen and Danielle Evans. DJ Sounds by Rob Fields.
Location: Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street (3rd and 4th Avenue)
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Price: Suggested donation: $5