200 Authors, 175 Publishers/Presses; Artisanal Food Vendors; 13 Venues, Expanded “Bookend” Events all Weekend 9/10-9/12!

It’s the Brooklyn Book Festival and it’s a little more than a week away. Now in its fifth year, the Brooklyn Book Festival is one of the top book festivals in the country.

With the extraordinary literary heritage, vibrant publishing community and international reading audience of Brooklyn and New York City as its backdrop, the Festival offers the best and brightest stars in contemporary literature. The hip, huge and free all-star literary lineup includes Salman Rushdie, Naomi Klein, Paul Auster, Venus Williams, Nelson George, Sarah Silverman, Gary Shteyngart, Mary Gaitskill, John Ashbery, Rosanne Cash, Paul Krugman, Colson Whitehead, Francine Prose, Dennis Lehane, Per Petterson, Esmeralda Santiago, Pete Hamill, Jennifer Egan, Russell Banks, Michael Connelly, John Hodgman, Kristen Schaal, Sam Lipsyte, Sloane Crosley, Maaza Mengiste, Paul Harding, Amy Goodman, Marlon James, Sarah MacLean, Jean Valentine, Elizabeth Nunez and many more, as well as children’s and young adult lit stars like Rebecca Stead, Sara Shepard, Jacqueline Woodson, Jon Scieszka, Jenny Han, Nina Crews, Mac Barnett, Tad Hills, Chris Raschka, Michael Rex, Matthew Reinhart and Francisco X. Stork.

At the Brooklyn Book Festival, you can see Venus Williams discussing sports and success, Salman Rushdie and young novelist Tishani Doshi discuss Pakistani/Indian literature and culture. Hear what Paul Krugman has to say about the economy. Get a peek into the masterminds of modern crime fiction Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane and Alafair Burke, meditate on the insights of yoga-convert and humorist Neal Pollack, get cooking tips from the founders of Frankies Sputino and hear Sarah Silverman, John Hodgman and Kristen Schaal opine on life and comedy. See full list of programs below.

So much to do.

This year’s expanded festival includes weekend-long “Bookend” events at the coolest venues in Brooklyn, including BAM, Bell House, Brooklyn Bridge Park, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Brooklyn Public Library, Debut Lit, Freebird Books & Goods, Greenlight Bookstore, Irondale Center, Light Industry, Littlefield, Mainspring Collective, PEN American Center, Pizza D’Amore, powerHouse, St. Ann’s Warehouse, WORD and more!
Hear Russell Banks discuss books and film at BAM, dance as Rob Sheffield spins ’80s music at Bell House, hang with John Waters as he talks about his new book Role Models at WORD in Greenpoint. Check out the rest of the great weekend Bookend events—see list of Bookend events below.

Food Vendors: At the Festival this year, Green Pirate’s Community Juice Truck will dispense healthy, freshly-squeezed juices; PizzaMoto, with its famed mobile brick oven, serves up deliciously thin pies; handmade dumplings with a variety of tasty fillings—including a whole wheat-wrapped vegan variety—plus flavorful dipping sauces, will be available at the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck; and Red Hook vendor Solber Pupusas will offer their famed pupusas—hearty stuffed corn tortillas—and other Salvadoran-Dominican style fare. The perfect postscript to these savory munchies will be freshly baked cookies, brownies and other goodies provided by The Treats Truck and all natural ice cream from the Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream truck. Nearly all of the vendors also serve beverages, many homemade.
Bike Valet: Transportation Alternatives will provide bike valet service for attendees!
RENOWNED POET JOHN ASHBERY WILL ACCEPT BEST OF BROOKLYN “BoBi” AWARD