Third Annual Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley to Highlight the Power of Literature for Social Change
Highlights include 200 authors, 100 literary events, a film and literature series, and 200 exhibitors, including children's activities
BERKELEY, Calif., March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bay Area Book Festival returns to downtown Berkeley June 3-4, 2017 with a focus on "literary activism." The two-day, indoor/outdoor Festival will welcome 200 local, national, and international authors and speakers in 100 literary sessions, and will emphasize writers and books that promote social justice, sanctuary, inclusion, freedom of expression, and environmental sustainability. Organizers expect 50,000 attendees.
Acclaimed authors confirmed so far include New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay; Micah White, co-creator of Occupy Wall Street; celebrated activist Cleve Jones, profiled in the TV mini-series "When We Rise"; feminist and humorist Lindy West; Native American poet Layli Long Soldier; National Book Award finalist Arlie Hochschild; spiritual teacher Jack Kornfield; National Book Critics Circle Award winner Geoff Dyer; Ayelet Waldman, appearing for her new memoir and also with Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon and two-time National Book Award finalist Rachel Kushner for a forthcoming anthology on Palestine; Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty; leading film critic David Thomson; and Pulitzer finalist Susan Griffin in conversation with environmental activist Joanna Macy.
Environmental activist Paul Hawken will discuss his new book Drawdown, with contributor Mark Hertsgaard. A special event will feature contributors to the forthcoming Radical Hope, including Jeff Chang, Francisco Goldman, Katie Kitamura, and the book's editor Carolina De Robertis.The festival also debuts a partnership with Youth Speaks and will present stage performances and a workshop for young people.
A strong science fiction list includes Cory Doctorow, John Scalzi, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Annalee Newitz, among others. Among authors scheduled to discuss mysteries are Walter Mosley withLaurie King, bestselling Dane Jussi Adler-Olsen with Cara Black, Sweden's Erik Axl Sund, and Norway's Thomas Rydahl.
In a statement on the Festival's website announcing the direction of the 2017 event, founder and executive director Cherilyn Parsons notes, "There is no better place than Berkeley, renowned for its intellectual activism, for an event that highlights literature as a vehicle for social change. … Whether non-fiction, fiction or poetry, literature allows remarkable access into the subtle life experience and perspectives of other people and cultures."
Again the Festival will present a film and literature series, "Auteur, Author," in collaboration with the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), May 31-June 4. Guest-curated by Tom Luddy, co-director of the Telluride Film Festival, the series screens ten films that relate to writers and writing and that are discussed by the filmmakers and authors.
The Festival also will include a street fair, a family entertainment zone with a storytelling stage, magicians, hands-on art and activities, and a carnival.
The event's full schedule will be released April 15, 2017.
For more information, visit baybookfest.org or Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
SOURCE Bay Area Book Festival
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