The NYS Writers Institute’s 8th Annual Albany Book Festival, a celebration of literature, creativity, and community will take place 10:30 to 5 on Saturday, September 27, at the University at Albany.
This year’s festival features a distinguished lineup of award-winning, bestselling, and regional authors and poets, including Debbie Millman, Roxane Gay, Russell Shorto, Megan Abbott, and John McWhorter, among many others.
In addition to a full day of panel discussions, the festival will include:
- More than 100 local authors and exhibitors
- Open mic readings
- Children’s activities
- Book signings
- Special tributes and performances
Admission is free and open to the public. For full details, visit: www.albanybookfestival.com
Festival week highlights
7 p.m. Tuesday, September 23:
Online Workshop — “Crafting Characters Who Drive Your Plot” with novelist C.M. Waggoner.
Registration required. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crafting-characters-who-drive-your-plot-with-cm-waggoner-tickets-1657305127249?aff=oddtdtcreator
7:30 p.m. Friday, September 26:
State Author and State Poet Installation
State Author and State Poet Installation Ceremony honoring Min Jin Lee and Kimiko Hahn at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. More info: https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/new-york-state-author-state-poet
Event Schedule
Saturday, Sept. 27, University at Albany, Campus Center West Auditorium
10:30 a.m. – Conversation with State Author Min Jin Lee and State Poet Kimiko Hahn
Moderated by Paul Grondahl, Opalka Endowed Director, NYS Writers Institute
12:00 p.m. – Becoming New York
Molly Beer (Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution) and Russell Shorto (Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America)
1:15 p.m. – Love Letter to a Garden
Debbie Millman (Love Letter to a Garden) and Roxane Gay (Bad Feminist: Essays)
2:30 p.m. – Toni Morrison and America in the 1980s
Paul Elie (The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s) and Dana A. Williams (Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship)
4:00 p.m. – Remembering Pierre Joris – Poasis and Beyond: Always the Many
Randall Horton (Dead Weight: A Memoir in Essays) and Urayoán Noel (Transversal). See video of Jori’s 2014 visit to the Writer’s Institute here.
Campus Center West Boardroom
10:30 a.m. – Masculinity
Jordan Castro (Muscle Man) and Niobe Way (Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves, and Our Culture)
11:45 a.m. – Beauty and Its Discontents
Chantal Fernandez (Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon) and Tempe Denton-Hurst (Fresh Sets: Contemporary Nail Art from Around the World)
1:00 p.m. – Secrets
Honor Moore (A Termination) and Tracy O’Neill (Woman of Interest)
2:15 p.m. – Dad’s Brain
Sandeep Jauhar (My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s) and Natasha Williams (The Parts of Him I Kept: The Gifts of My Father’s Madness)
3:30 p.m. – New Romance
Minita Sanghvi (Happy Endings) and Tamani Wooley (Do You Dare?)
Campus Center Assembly Hall
10:30 a.m. – Pronoun Trouble
John McWhorter (Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words)
11:45 a.m. –Fairy Tales for Adults
Luis Jaramillo (The Witches of El Paso) and Julie Phillips (Bear)
1:00 p.m. – Pyramid Schemes
Megan Abbott (El Dorado Drive) and Bridget Read (Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America)
2:15 p.m. – Poets Responding to Taylor Swift
Kristie Frederick Daugherty (Invisible Strings: 113 Poets Respond to the Songs of Taylor Swift), Leah Umansky (Of Tyrant), Samiya Bashir (I Hope This Helps)
3:30 p.m. – New Fiction
Lindsay Hill (Sea of Hooks) and Christopher Shaw (The Manager: A Tale of the Cold War)
Campus Center Multi-Purpose Room
10:30 a.m. – Skribblers/Capital District Writing Project Open Mic
12:00 p.m. – Children’s Author Spotlight: Ta-Sean Murdock (I Am Brave and Bright! Affirmations for Overcoming Bullies)
1:15 p.m. – Bookmaking Presentation: Ambika Sambasivan and Suhani Parikh
6:30 p.m. – Remembering Pierre Joris – Part 2: Reading and Performance
Campus Center Orb Stage
11:30 a.m. – Shaker Pointe Creative Elders Reading
12:30 p.m. – Open Mic with Arch Magazine and Young Writers Project
2:00 p.m. – Hudson Valley Writers Guild Open Mic
3:30 p.m. – WoodstockArts Open Mic
The University at Albany is located at 1400 Washington Avenue in Albany, NY.
Source link
