ACTIVIST ATHLETES: Over the past years, we’ve seen a number of professional athletes speak out against racism and injustice. The response—from fans, owners, even the President—has ranged from support to outright hostility. Players have been called unpatriotic, accused of disrespecting the military, even blackballed from their leagues. What’s next for this movement? Writer/activist Shaun King […]
TOP-SHELF NOIR: Brooklyn’s beloved Pete Hamill (A Killing for Christ) is joined by best-selling authors Laura Lippman (Sunburn; Liza Jane & the Dragon) and Tayari Jones (editor, Atlanta Noir; An American Marriage) in a program of haunting, unforgettable noir fiction. Dwyer Murphy (CrimeReads) will moderate this event featuring short readings and a discussion, followed by […]
Michael Imperioli presents The Perfume Burned His Eyes at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Location TBA. COMING OF AGE IN NYC: Young adulthood is a particularly raw and fraught time, but coming of age in the city where great privilege and ambition abuts great adversity, the stakes are even higher. Khary Lazarre-White’s Passage tells the story of Warrior, […]
Katia D. Ulysse presents Mouths Don’t Speak at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Location: Brooklyn Borough Hall Courtroom, 209 Joralemon Street. THE AFTERMATH: Psychological, unseen injuries are often the most difficult to identify and treat. As medicine struggles to diagnose and treat post-traumatic stress disorder, literature is recognizing its reality and import. Novelists Shahriar Mandanipour (Moon Brow), Katia D. […]
Bernice L. McFadden presents Praise Song for the Butterflies at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Full details TBA. IN THE FACE OF FEAR: The latest books by award-winning writers Terry McMillan (I Almost Forgot About You), Lee Martin (The Mutual UFO Network), and Bernice L. McFadden (Praise Song for the Butterflies) all feature strong lead characters that are […]
Michael Imperioli presents The Perfume Burned His Eyes at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Location TBA. FRACTURED LIVES: The after-life is usually a term reserved for the deceased, but what about the life after you lose someone? Novels by Laura van den Berg (The Third Hotel), Michael Imperioli (The Perfume Burned His Eyes), and Sigrid Nunez (The Friend) […]
Ricardo Cortés presents Sea Creatures from the Sky at the Brooklyn Book Festival, Children’s Day. Full details TBA.
Race, Rock, and Appropriation: At the Grammys this year, Adele broke her trophy in half so that she could share it with Beyonce. A month later, Chuck Berry died and much of the media coverage looked at how admirers like the Rolling Stones made a fortune off his riffs. How has the discourse on music, […]