BROOKLYN BUZZ: Book lovers throng to Brooklyn

Welcome to Book-lyn!

The sixth annual Brooklyn Book Festival is less than two weeks awayand you can almost hear the collective page-whoosh of excitementfrom bibliophiles, English majors and Brooklyn book businesses asthey get ready for the day-long festival and four-day-long seriesof events that brings book lovers, authors and publishers togetherfor a celebration of the written and illustrated word.

The festival is set to take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday,September 18, at Brooklyn Borough Hall, Columbus Park, St. FrancisCollege, St. Ann’s Church, and the Brooklyn Historical Society.There will be over 260 authors present and over 100 paneldiscussions throughout the day.

As in past years, there will also be book signings and readings,author panel discussions and a slew of Bookend events. This year,though, the fun starts early, on Thursday, September 15, with somehighlights including spoken word poetry in Cadman Plaza, a literarypub quiz in DUMBO, a series of short films based on children’sbooks at BAM, multimedia literary projects at the Invisible Dog ArtCenter, a 40th anniversary bash for the Community Bookstore of ParkSlope, and a closing festival bash at the Brooklyn Bowl.

As the ‘Creative Capital of New York City,’ Brooklyn is theperfect host for one of the world’s most prestigious free literaryfestivals, said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, whostarted the event back in 2006. Whether you’re a voracious readeror someone who just likes to pick up the occasional ‘good read,’make sure you ‘book it’ for our Brooklyn Book Festival thisfall.

This year’s Best of Brooklyn award will be given to JhumpaLahiri, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her debut collectionof short stories, Interpreter of MaladiesThe Namesake turned into a film. Lahiri lives inBrooklyn and has been active for years in such organizations as theNew York Writers Coalition.

Other well-known authors present will include Terry McMillan, JoyceCarol Oates, Jonathan Safran Foer, Philip Lopate, Cory Doctorow,Jacqueline Woodson, Amitav Ghosh, Larry McMurtry, Rachel Hawkinsand Walter Mosley, as well as Brooklyn Pulitzer Prize winnersJennifer Egan, Jesse Eisinger, Clifford Levy and JakeBernstein.

Former participants include Salman Rushdie, Sarah Silverman, VenusWilliams and Colson Whitehead.

Among those southern Brooklynites taking part are Dyker Heightsbusinessowners Tatiana Nicoli of Boulevard Books and Café, andJamie-Lynn Mollo of Jamie Lynn’s Kitchen.

Mollo will be signing books and hosting an appetizer cooking demoat Boulevard Books at 7518 13th Avenue on Friday, September 16.Meanwhile Nicoli, who recently started a monthly Kids Book Club andTeen Book Club, will be welcoming Sensei Adami from Brooklyn JiuJitsu at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 17, to teach kids aboutstranger danger after reading The Berenstain Bears LearnAbout Strangers.

The 2011 Brooklyn Book Festival is presented by Brooklyn Tourismand the Brooklyn Literary Council, in partnership with St. FrancisCollege and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.Local sponsors include Brooklyn Community Foundation, Citi, ConEdison, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, NYC & CompanyFoundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs andthe New York State Council on the Arts.

For more on panel times and how to meet your favorite author, visithttp://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/_blog/Press_Room andhttp://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/BBF/FestivalEvents. For aschedule of Bookend events, visithttp://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/BBF/BookendEvents.

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