Six Events to Catch at the 2019 Brooklyn Book Festival This Weekend

Stretching across two days this weekend, the Brooklyn Book Festival is making its return.

All events on Saturday, September 21 will be dedicated to Children’s Day, now in its fifth year. Special events include a Picture Book Stage, a Young Readers Stage and a special marketplace for children’s publishers. The main Festival Day is on Sunday, September 22 at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza.

Writers who will be present at the annual celebration of literature include Edwidge Danticat, Jonathan Safran Foer, Bill McKibben, Joyce Carol Oates, Rebecca Traister, Marlon James, Nell Zink and more. Events reach into the dozens.

But where do you start? Below, a guide to some of the events worth checking out, especially if you’re looking to skip the lines on the big-ticket talks:

New York Stories
September 21, 11:00 am
Young Readers Stage (MetroTech Commons)

A panel with young adult novelists Ibi Zoboi (“My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich”), Karina Yan Glaser (“The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue”) and Hilda Eunice Burgos (“Ana María Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle”) discussing books that take place in New York City. Moderated by the author Peter Lerangis (“Throwback”).

Comics — Easy as ABC!
September 21, 1:00 pm
Makers and Creators Room

Author and illustrator Ivan Brunetti teaches a class around the release of his latest book, “Comics — Easy As ABC! The Essential Guide to Comics for Kids.” Children will be able to make comics and learn the basics of cartooning. There will be “simple and fun exercises playing with lines and shapes,” according to the description, to help “design and draw characters, faces, animals, props, and settings.”

Jazzed and Poetic
September 22, 10:00 am
Main Stage, Borough Hall Plaza

A literary music program, the first for the festival, is the perfect opening for the main day of the festival. Eric Lemons’ Brownstone Jazz Trio will open the performance, with the Brooklyn Art Song Society and poet Camille Rankine also taking the stage.

Cooking Across Borders
September 22, 2:00 pm
Brooklyn Historical Society Great Hall

Chef Sohui Kim of Red Hook’s The Good Fork, along with chefs Nik Sharma, Yasmin Khan and Smitten Kitchen creator Deb Perelman, discuss how international culinary traditions have become part of American cuisine.

Put Down Your Phone!?
September 22, 4:00 pm
Center Stage (Columbus Park)

Artist and writer Jenny Odell, historian Susan J. Matt, technologist Luke Fernandez and writer James Williams discuss the push and pull of digital technology in a panel moderated by New York Times editor Andrew LaVelle.

Photography and the Written Word
September 22, 5:00 pm
St. Francis College Founder’s Hall

Dr. Deborah Willis will lead a panel on the history of photography and the ways in which it interacts with the written word. She will be joined by Preston Lauterbach, author of “Bluff City: The Secret Life of Photographer Ernest Withers,” and Christopher Bonanos, author of “Flash: The Making of Weegee the Famous.” Moderated by Elyssa Goodman.

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