Bookmark these weekend events

By Damian Harris-Hernandez

Bookmark the whole weekend because the Brooklyn Book Festival just got bigger.

Even with 12 stages, Borough Hall Plaza couldn’t hold the 250 authors who are coming from all over the world for the Sept. 12 event. So the festival expanded with “Bookend” events taking place all weekend in hot spots around town from Greenpoint to Mill Basin.

Sunday is still the main day with big hitters such as novelist Salman Rushdie, Brooklyn’s own Paul Auster, comedian Sarah Silverman and athlete Venus Williams taking the stage outside Borough Hall.

Poet John Ashbery will be honored, economist Paul Krugman will give it to us straight, and humorist Neal Pollack will meditate on yoga at the fifth-annual gathering.

“The festival is very cutting edge and very forward thinking, yet we offer something for everyone,” said Johnny Temple, chair of the Literary Council, which helped jumpstart the festival with Borough President Markowitz four years ago. “Everyone who comes down will find something to smile about.”

The Bookend events help further diversify the festival and allow Brooklynites as well as visitors to see what the rest of Brooklyn has to offer.

Here’s some recommended reading:

Role model John Waters gets intimate with his audience as he discusses his new book at Greenpoint’s Coco 66 at an event presented by WORD Books on Sept. 10 at 8 pm. Tickets $25.

In “Opening Act,” literary rock stars John Murillo, Sung J. Woo, Fiona Maazel and others flash read from a theme provided by Debut Lit at powerHouse Arena in DUMBO on Sept. 10 at 8 pm. Free.

Melissa and Brendan Vaughan, authors of “The New Brooklyn Cookbook,” serve up some expertise at The Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg with a panel of brewers, fermenters, chefs and farmers on Sept. 11 at 2 pm. Tickets $65 (includes an advance copy of book).

What better place for rock and roll journalist Rob Sheffield to read from his new book, “Talking to Girls about Duran Duran,” than Bell House, the hip Gowanus music venue. Stick around and dance to DJ Sheffield as he spins ‘80s hits. On Sept. 11 at 8 pm. Free.

Down in Mill Basin, dinner guests at Pizza D’Amore sing numbers from Mark Rotella’s book “The Story of Italian American Song,” which features the songs of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Connie Francis and others, on Sept. 12 at 7 pm

Brooklyn Book Festival at Borough Hall [209 Joralemon St. at Court Street in Downtown, (718) 802-3700], Sept. 12 from 10 am-6 pm, free; Coco 66 [66 Greenpoint Ave. between Franklin and West streets in Greenpoint, (718) 389-7392]; powerHouse Arena [37 Main St. at Water Street in DUMBO, (718) 666-3049]; The Brooklyn Kitchen [100 Frost St. between Leonard Street and Manhattan Avenue in Williamsburg, (718) 389-2982]; Bell House [149 Seventh St. between Second and Third avenues in Gowanus, (718) 643-6510]; Pizza D’Amore [2147 Mill Ave. between Avenue U and Strickland Avenue in Mill Basin, (718) 531-2333].

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At the Brooklyn Book Fest

Yesterday was the Brooklyn Book Festival.

With over 220 artists participating and dozens of panels, it was impossible to make it out to all the festival had to offer.

We were able to check out the Satire and Comic Relief in 2009 panel with Jeffrey Rotter ("The Unknown Knowns"), Gary Shteyngart ("Absurdistan") and Sloane Crosley ("I Was Told There’d Be Cake"), and moderated by New Yorker editor Ben Greenman ("Superworse"). It was a packed house as the authors discussed what it means to be a satirist in the Obama administration, what they hate (Shteyngart: people not reading books anymore), and what's next on their plates (Crosley: TV, working on her HBO-optioned essays "I Was Told There'd Be Cake").

Were you among the thousands who attended? What did you see at this year's festival?

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Comic Con comes to Brooklyn

By Joe Maniscalco

Don’t be alarmed by the Imperial stormtroopers patrolling Borough Hall Plaza on September 13 - they’ll be packing Star Wars blasters, not Taser guns, and they’re friendly. Sort of. Just throw in a couple of “Hail, Lord Vaders” if you happen to bump into one of them.

Actually, there will be a lot more than costumed stormtroopers roaming around the Joralemon Street Plaza when the New York Comic Con sets up shop at the Fourth Annual Brooklyn Book Festival. This year, the often-maligned “funny books” of yore are finally being recognized as bona fide pieces of literature, and that’s cause for celebration.

“We are proud to bring an intense graphic lit and pop culture presence to such a great festival,” said Lance Fensterman, Vice President and Show Manager for New York Comic Con. “I am sure this will provide our customers with the opportunity to connect directly with lots of new fans. Plus, it’s all for free! This is a win-win in every respect.”

The New York Comic Con pavilion at Borough Hall will boast some 40 tables stacked with all sorts of comic books, collectibles, graphic novels, Manga and more. Special panels held throughout the day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. will tackle hot industry topics like the history of comics, the ever-changing genre of graphic novels and the interesting intersection of hip-hop and anime.

All the action is taking place in advance of the full New York Comic Con taking place at the Javits Center October 8 through 10.

“It’s an awesome time [in the comic book world],” Fensterman said.

While comics and graphic novels, like all other forms of print media, are trying to find their way in the new digital age, comics remain largely a tactile source of limitless entertainment.

“We saw things tip a little with the Kindle,” Fensterman said. “But there’s no such device widely expected in comics.”

Comic book and graphic novel figures like Denny O’Neil, Phil Jimenez, Danny Fingeroff, and Alex Simmons are expected to be on hand at the Brooklyn Book Festival to discuss all the fascinating ramifications that the future holds for the medium. Fans will also get an opportunity to talk with science fiction and fantasy authors from Tor and Del Rey Books, among others.

There will also be tons of comic book paraphernalia and a cool costume contest - so those stormtroopers might not look that outlandish after all. Three years ago, Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel “American Born Chinese” became a finalist in the prestigious National Book Awards. A year later, “American Born Chinese” won the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature.

“The [negative stigma surrounding comics] is starting to diminish,” Fensterman said.

Go to www.brooklynbookfestival.org for more information about the New York Comic Con at the Brooklyn Book Festival.

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Reading's all the rage

By Helen Klein

Despite all the old bad jokes about Brooklyn accents, Brooklynites are a cultured bunch.

Indeed, as the borough has gained visibility, it has become even more of a magnet for the creative types whose flair with words add to Brooklyn’s reputation as a center for the arts.

It’s no surprise, then, that the fourth annual Brooklyn Book Festival, planned for Sunday, September 13th, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., features a blockbuster lineup of authors with ties to Brooklyn, as well as other notable writers.

Among those authors with Brooklyn creds who have already indicated their intention of being a part of the event are Edwidge Danticat, who will receive the festival’s “BoBi” award; Paul Auster; Nelson George; Pete Hamill; Jonathan Lethem; Leonard and Phillip Lopate; and Francine Prose.Other well-known authors who will be on hand include Russell Banks, Anita Desai, Heidi Julavits, Naomi Klein, Mark Kurlansky, Gary Shteyngart, and Melvin Van Peebles (for the complete schedule, see here).

In addition, New York Comic Con (NYCC) will also be involved in the festival, a first for the event.

“We are proud to bring an intense graphic lit and pop culture presence to such a great festival.” remarked Lance Fensterman, vice president and show manager for NYCC.

NYCC will enliven the festival with a performance tent, presentations, autographing sessions and a dedicated marketplace area.

In all, about 150 writers will participate in the festival, which also will feature an extensive literary marketplace on the Borough Hall plaza. In addition, as part of the festival, authors will give readings, and there will be panel discussions, as well as a stage where children’s authors can reach out to the youngest literati.

The event -- which will be held at Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, as well as at St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street; and the Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street -- will clearly be an opportunity for residents of the borough and beyond to immerse themselves in the world of literature.

Borough President Marty Markowitz, announcing the lineup for the festival during a press conference earlier this year at Borough Hall, recalled that an early author who hailed from the borough had written of Brooklyn’s peach trees.

“Today,” Markowitz went on, “the days of the peach groves are behind us, but we are blessed with the abundant fruits of our creative community.”

This makes Brooklyn a natural location for what Markowitz called, “one of the most prestigious literary events in the nation.”

Among the highlights of the festival’s Gala Mingle, held the day before the festival, will be the announcement of the winner of a new award, created by St. Francis College, which is meant to recognize an author in the middle of his or her career. The $50,000 prize will be given for a writer’s fourth book of fiction, explained Tim Houlihan, vice president for academic affairs at St. Francis College, who noted that “Brooklyn is the only place where, when you try to give away $50,000, everyone says, ‘What’s the catch?’ We hope the prize will raise significant interest in authors who otherwise might be overlooked,” Houlihan explained.

Further information on the festival is available at http://brooklynbookfestival.org/. The festival also has its own official Facebook page. Information on the festival is also available on Twitter, at bkbf.

Upwards of 20,000 people attended the 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival.

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