In no particular order, these panels at the Brooklyn Book Festival appealed to me. There’s so much to choose from and many look very good. Frankly I’ve never gotten into one of these panels. It’s always so crowded.
ONE. 10:00 A.M. The So-Called ‘Post-Feminist, Post-Racial’ Life in Publishing: Best-selling author Deborah Copaken Kogan sparked a firestorm with her explosive essay in The Nation, and her experience as a 21st-century female author was marked by slut-shaming, name-calling and an enduring lack of respect. Poet, activist and author of sixteen books,Sonia Sanchez (Homegirls and Handgrenades) has consistently addressed the lack of respect for the struggles and lives of Black America. Author and founder of Feministing, Jessica Valenti, has devoted considerable time to transforming the media landscape for women. Moderated by Rob Spillman, Tin House. Borough Hall Courtroom.
TWO. 2:00 P.M. André Aciman and Claire Messud in Conversation: The experience of otherness and dislocation are preoccupying themes forAndré Aciman (Harvard Square) and Claire Messud (The Woman Upstairs). The conversation will explore how these themes inform their sense of character, as well as their understanding of the very nature of the fictional enterprise. Moderated by Albert Mobilio (Bookforum). Borough Hall Courtroom.
THREE. 3:00 P.M. Publish and Perish? E-books are killing publishing! The corporations are killing publishing! Self-publishing is killing publishing! While headlines continually bemoan the end of the literary world as we know it, others argue that the reports of publishing’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Janet Groth (The Receptionist) and Boris Kachka(Hothouse) take a look inside two of our most storied institutions—The New Yorker and Farrar, Straus and Giroux—and consider the past while taking the pulse of the literary world today. Brooklyn Historical Society.
FOUR. 5:00 P.M. What Fills the Void After War? Three acclaimed writers from countries that have known conflict and political unrest discuss war’s aftermath and how it informs their work. With Irish writer Colum McCann(TransAtlantic), Sri Lankan writer Ru Freeman (On Sal Mal Lane) and Iraqi writer Sinan Antoon (The Corpse Washer). Moderated by Rob Spillman (Tin House). Borough Hall Courtroom.
FIVE. 5:00 P.M. Let’s Talk About (Writing) Sex: Everyone’s writing about it.Sam Lipsyte (The Fun Parts) pens sardonic short stories about sex in a misanthropic world. Amy Grace Loyd (The Affairs of Others) depicts an apartment building filled with violence, mystery, and, of course, sex. AndSusan Choi (My Education) puts a (sexy) new twist on the student-teacher relationship. Short readings and discussion. Moderated by Angela Ledgerwood (Cosmopolitan Magazine). Main Stage.
SIX. 11:00 A.M. Mommy Dearest: Some women would sacrifice anything to have a child. Others consider having a child a sacrifice in itself. The complications of adoption, of lost chances, and of the relationship between past and present are all held together by a mother’s instinct, or lack thereof. Jennifer Gilmore (The Mothers), Claire Messud (The Woman Upstairs), and Jamaica Kincaid (See Now Then) debate the different roles that motherhood plays in their latest novels. Moderated by Harold Augenbraum, National Book Foundation. St. Francis Auditorium.
SEVEN. 4:00 P.M. Art Spiegelman and Jules Feiffer in Conversation: Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman‘s newest release, Co-Mix, is a career retrospective that covers his work from Raw to Maus to the New Yorker (and Garbage Pail Kids in between). Joined by Jules Feiffer (Out of Line: The Art of Jules Feiffer), also a Pulitzer winner, they debate the purpose and impact of comics art, its history and development, and their visions of its future. Featuring screen projection. St. Francis Auditorium.
EIGHT. 5:00 P.M. On Nonfiction: American literature is in the midst of a renaissance of sorts, from the glossies to the blogosphere, with an unforeseen proliferation of investigative journalism, memoir, and personal essay. Join Svetlana Alpers (Roof Life), George Packer (The Unwinding) and Clifford Thompson (Love for Sale and Other Essays) in conversation with Phillip Lopate (Portrait Inside My Head) about the renewal and relevance of nonfiction writing today. St. Francis Auditorium
NINE. 10:00 A.M. Family Inheritances: It’s all in the family. Sometimes it’s the one we’re born into and sometimes it’s the one we make for ourselves.Joanna Hershon (A Dual Inheritance), Caroline Leavitt (Is This Tomorrow), Callie Wright (Love All), and Donna Hill (What Mother Never Told Me) discuss the secrets, mysteries and hidden truths that permeate these generational relationships and lifelong bonds. Moderated by Brigid Hughes, A Public Space. St. Ann’s
TEN. 12:00 P.M. Arts and Politics in Fiction: Art has always been a tool for political and social change. In these novels, it comes in the form of protest-pop songs, motorcycle photography and high-end fashion. Alex Gilvarry(From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant), Rachel Kushner (The Flamethrowers) and Nicholson Baker (Traveling Sprinkler) shed new light on the timeless relationship between art and politics. Moderated by Joel Whitney. St. Ann’s.