Lit Hub’s Brooklyn Book Festival Preview: 8 Events Not to Miss

Readers, rejoice: the Brooklyn Book Festival is here. On this Sunday, September 16, writers, editors, publishers, and all sorts of other literary types will gather to talk books at the largest free literary event in New York City. It’s always a great time. Actually, the main problem with the Brooklyn Book Festival is that there’s so much going on: they’ve scheduled multiple panels and speakers that I want to see during every single hour. Since I can’t be more than one place at once (yet), here are the events I’m looking forward to the most—other than the Literary Marketplace, where I will likely spend some serious dollars—along with their official descriptions. Really though, you can’t go wrong, so pick and choose as you see fit, and see you there.

Multiple Selves/Multiple Views
10:00 am, September 16, 2018
Borough Hall Media Room, 209 Joralemon St

Whether it’s multiple identities within one character; the different perspectives that drive a sweeping, historical novel; or the range of voices that bridge the worlds of fiction and poetry—the works of these authors deal with ideas of balance and turbulence, cacophony and quiet. Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater, Bangladeshi Arif Anwar’s The Storm, and Jamaican Windham-Campbell Prize recipient Lorna Goodison’s stories and poems open our eyes to the myriad dimensions of the self and the world. Moderated by Emmanuel Iduma (A Stranger’s Pose).

The Feminist Future of Fiction, presented by Books Are Magic
11:00 am, September 16, 2018
North Stage, Cadman Plaza East

R.O. Kwon (The Incendiaries), Lydia Kiesling (Golden State), and Alexia Arthurs (How to Love a Jamaican), will be in conversation with novelist and Books Are Magic co-owner Emma Straub about their razor-sharp debuts, writing while female, the state of American letters, and anything else they damn well please.

My Pet Sorrow
12:00 pm, September 16, 2018
Center Stage (Columbus Park)

Patrick DeWitt (French Exit), Eileen Myles (Afterglow), and Sigrid Nunez (The Friend) discuss the role pets play in the grieving process, magical thinking, and anthropomorphism. In French Exit, Dewitt’s humorous satire of a wealthy family on the verge of ruin, a woman’s dead husband is reincarnated as a curmudgeonly cat. In The Friend, Nunez’s novel of grief and friendship, a woman takes in her mentor’s Great Dane after he commits suicide. And in Afterglow, a “dog memoir,” Eileen Myles tells the story of her art and life through fantastical imaginings of her late dog Rosie. Short readings and a discussion. Q & A.

The Aftermath
1:00 pm, September 16, 2018
Borough Hall Courtroom, 209 Joralemon St

Psychological, unseen injuries are often the most difficult to identify and treat. As medicine struggles to diagnose and treat post-traumatic stress disorder, literature is recognizing its reality and import. Novelists Shahriar Mandanipour (Moon Brow), Katia D. Ulysse (Mouths Don’t Speak), Dan Sheehan (Restless Souls) join Sara Nović (Girl at War) to explore the power of PTSD, whether it’s acquired on the battlefield or on the home front.

Top-Shelf Noir
2:00 pm, September 16, 2018
St. Francis College Founder’s Hall, 180 Remsen St

Brooklyn’s beloved Pete Hamill (A Killing for Christ) is joined by best-selling authors Laura Lippman (Sunburn) and Tayari Jones (editor, Atlanta Noir; An American Marriage) in a program of haunting, unforgettable noir fiction. Dwyer Murphy (CrimeReads) will moderate this event featuring short readings and a discussion, followed by an audience Q&A.

Best of Brooklyn: N.K. Jemisin in Conversation
3:00 pm, September 16, 2018
Borough Hall Courtroom, 209 Joralemon St

Three time Hugo winner for Best Novel, N.K. Jemisin is also first author to have every book in a series, the Broken Earth trilogy, win the prize. She is this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival 2018 BoBi honoree and will joined in conversation by speculative fiction writer P. Djèlí Clark, author of The Black God’s Drums. Introduced by Johnny Temple, Chair, Brooklyn Literary Council.

Truths and Fictions
4:00 pm, September 16, 2018
Borough Hall Media Room, 209 Joralemon St

In the works of Javier Cercas (The Imposter), Neel Mukherjee (A State of Freedom), and Marina Perezagua (The Story of H), the stories we craft—and the histories we cover-up or expose—flirt across borders of truth and fiction. Whether it’s the deceptions of an alleged Holocaust survivor in Spain, the underclass’ thwarted dreams of liberation in India, or the fallibility of memory in the dark shadow of Hiroshima—these authors explore depths of individual delusion and historical reality. Moderated by Eric Becker, Words without Borders.

Cultural Sampling as Cultural Critique
5:00 pm, September 16, 2018
Main Stage on Borough Hall Plaza

What is the difference between cultural appropriation and sampling? Three writers discuss how their writing samples musical, literary, and historical traditions to build a critique of contemporary society. In White Tears by Hari Kunzru, two friends stumble into questions of authorship and authenticity when a music collector shows interest in a fraudulent recording. In Days of Awe, A.M. Homes skewers American consumer culture without ever losing compassion for her alienated characters. And in Counternarratives, Windham-Campbell Prize recipient John Keene borrows from memoirs, transcripts and newspapers to collage a picture of America across the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Moderated by Touré (Flow, The Touré Show).