The Brooklyn Book Festival has an interesting line-up of events slated for the Main Stage, which is in Borough Hall Plaza. If you decide to plant yourself on the steps of Borough Hall, you’ll be in for some interesting—and some wacky events within eyeshot of the bustling marketplace of publishers who will fill Borough Hall Park on Sunday.
11AM: David Rees (How to Sharpen Pencils), the world’s only artisanal pencil sharpener, in conversation with Sam Anderson, critic at large for the New York Times Magazine. They discuss the artisanal culture of the Hudson Valley, Rees’ pencil business (he hand-sharpens pencils for mail order customers), and the artisanalization of everything in Brooklyn, from mayonnaise to soda.
12PM: Only the Dead Know Brooklyn. And you thought Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn. Literary history comes alive on stage with readings by Troupe of works by revered authors who are no longer with us. I’m guessing they’ll be reading from the great Thomas Wolfe short story.
1:00 PM: I’d Like To Apologize To Every Teacher I Ever Had. Tony Danza in Conversation with Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. As an actor, Danza conquered nearly every entertainment realm—TV, the movies, even Broadway—and he wanted to give something back. Inspired by a documentary made by Teach for America, he decided to take time out to teach! Markowitz converses with Brooklyn born Danza about his career and his book about teaching high school.
2PM: Let’s Talk About Sex: Grappling with Gender in the 21st Century. Is biology destiny? What does it mean today to be a man, a woman, or to feel somewhere in between? Naomi Wolf (Vagina: A New Biography), Carlos Andres Gomez (Man Up: Cracking the Code of Modern Manhood) and Kate Bornstein (A Queer and Pleasant Danger) consider the role of sex and gender in culture today, how it makes us, and how we react to the trappings of gender put upon us by society at large. Moderated by Hanna Rosin (The End of Men).
3PM: When a character has a dark side or a painful history, how does an author write about it? AuthorsAmelia Gray (Threats), Dennis Lehane (Moonlight Mile) and Sapphire (The Kid) deal with violence in their work and discuss how they handle it. Moderated by Greg Cowles, New York Times Book Review.
4PM: Good Times – Different Times. Jimmie Walker (Dyn-O-Mite: A Memoir) and Bern Nadette Stanis (Situations 101: Relationships, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly) from the landmark TV sitcom, Good Times, in conversation. Moderated by Carolyn Greer, Brooklyn Book Festival.