It was a dreary, wet day in New York Sunday, Sept. 12, as occasional gusty winds threatened to overturn umbrellas and blow away everything in sight. But the nasty weather did not deter scores of book lovers from showing up at the 5th Brooklyn Book Festival that took place near Brooklyn Borough Hall, a one-day celebration of the literary arts with panel discussions, book readings, and books galore.
Upon stepping into the Borough Hall square, one sees row after row of local bookstores, publishing presses, and organizations (such as The New York Review of Books, Poetry Society of America) selling books in practically every shape and size. There was even a distributor, Los Libros Mas Pequeños Del Mundo (The Smallest Books in the World), of books small enough to fit in your palm, mostly Spanish translations of major Western texts like The Divine Comedy and Romeo and Juliet.
Many book vendors were selling the works of authors who were participating in the festival. A large number of accomplished writers (over 200), many of whom were Brooklynites and New Yorkers, joined the festival in panel discussions, which ranged in topic from the future of the book in the Internet age (The Transformation of The Book), to questioning music’s place in society in today’s age of “oversaturation” (The Problem with Music) and how times of crisis can define our American experience (The Culture of Disaster: How Crisis Defines America).
Philip Lopate, a Brooklynite and prolific essayist, poet, and editor of anthologies, moderated a panel discussion (Change is Gonna Come: The Fluid Life of New York City) with sociology professor Sharon Zukin, journalist and critic Roberta Brandes Grat, and writers Martin Lemelman and Jonathan Soffer, where they discussed the changing face of Gotham. Zukin and others argued that New York “is losing its soul” and becoming more commercial and standardized. She urged for the city to regain its authenticity instead of losing to forces like gentrification that threaten to eliminate the city’s cultural and economic diversity. The panel also pondered the future of the city, when second generation Americans from immigrant families move out of ethnic communities, potentially allowing commercial development into those neighborhoods.
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Book readings were equally diverse in theme. Sandra Rodriguez Barron, Lan Samantha Chang, and Andrew Ervin read from their books that involved characters and plots in foreign countries. Inspired by their own cultural heritage and background, they spoke about writing stories of foreign cultures and characters for an American audience and doing research for their book as a journey of self-discovery.
Brooklyn foodies were also in for a real treat, as food writers and chefs discussed all things related to eating, cooking, and writing about food. Popular Brooklyn chefs Frank Falcinelli, Frank Castronovo, and Ted Lee, one of the Lee brothers behind the award-winning cookbook The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, were among those in attendance.
Children also had the opportunity to nourish their curious minds through a series of activities from children’s authors and illustrators. At the Illustrator Draw-off, Shane Evans, Mike Cavallaro, and Vanessa Brantley Newton created spontaneous pieces of artwork from the audience’s prompts and made up story lines for the illustrations. In a game of Whose Pen Is It Anyway, the three illustrators contributed to the same piece, as they passed the artwork onto the next person for them to add onto the artwork.
A long list of famous authors made their appearances, including this year’s BoBi award recipient John Ashbery, in honor of his work that “exemplifies or speaks to the spirit of Brooklyn.” Ashbery had worked as a librarian for the Brooklyn Public Library and also taught and co-directed the poetry program at Brooklyn College.
Paul Auster, the 2007 BoBi recipient, appeared in conversation with Ashbery. Other star authors that participated in discussions at the festival include Salman Rushdie, Paul Krugman, and Michael Connelly. Tennis player Venus Williams, who released her first book Come to Win this year, and comedian Sarah Silverman also participated in discussions about their respective fields.
Judging from the large crowd that showed up at the festival this year, those who say literature and bibliophiles are in a state of decline in today’s technologically advanced world are surely mistaken.
