For those who are in the New York City Area, we’ve got lots of great things happening this weekend!
On Saturday, September 20 at 10:30 am, Katheryn Russell-Brown, author of Little Melba and Her Big Trombone, will be doing a reading at the Bank Street Bookstore in New York City. More info here.
LEE & LOW BOOKS will also be at the Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday, September 21! We’re looking forward to a fun-filled day with our authors, and if you’re in the New York City area we hope you’ll stop by! We’ll be at booth #604, right next to the Columbus Statue Garden.
Artwork from HIROMI’S HANDS, written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch
The festival is located at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL SIGNINGS
10-10:45am at booth #604; 3-3:30pm at the Brooklyn Book Festival Children’s Area
Monica Brown is the author of Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match and Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash
11-11:45am at booth #604
Christiane Krömer is the illustrator of King For a Day
12-12:30pm at the Brooklyn Book Festival Children’s Area; 1-1:45pm at booth #604
Mark Greenwood and Frané Lessac are the author and illustrator of Drummer Boy of John John
Hope to see you there!
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At the 2012 Brooklyn Book Festival, The Last Nude author Ellis Avery, Conquistadora author Esmeralda Santiago and Cervantes Street author Jaime Manrique all joined a panel about writing historical fiction.
Throughout their talk, they shared these five handy tips for writers thinking about the genre.
1. Assemble a collection of art books from the period you are researching. Cut them up and interact with them to get ideas and draw feelings. This will help especially with character development.
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
A few of us made it out for the Brooklyn Book Festival this weekend, so I thought I’d share a few shots of the event. It was a bright, beautiful fall day, and it was great to see so many people come out to celebrate reading (a record 40,000, according to this article).
Joseph Bruchac, author of Wolf Mark, Buffalo Song, and several other titles, was on a panel about sports stories for boys with Jon Scieszka and Gordon Korman, moderated by Lisa Yee. They were hilarious!
From L: Lisa Yee, Jon Scieszka, Joseph Bruchac, and Gordon Korman
When asked to tell one truth and one lie about himself, Joseph Bruchac offered these two facts:
A.) He once wrestled alligators in high school in upstate NY.
B.) He goes into jails to read/write with criminals, including serial killers.
So, which is true?
The audience guesses were about 50-50, but it turns out that Joe DOES work with a program that brings authors into jails to read and write with inmates. He actually was a wrestler and was asked to wrestle alligators in high school, but turned down the offer because, in his words, “I liked all ten of my fingers.”
Here’s Tu Books Editorial Director Stacy Whitman (right) with Nora de Hoyos Comstock (center) from Las Comadres, along with an author.
[Sidenote: Las Comadres Para Las Americas is a national organization that connects Latina women. And if you happen to be in the NYC area, their Comadres y compadres Writer's Conference is taking place on October 6 - and our very own Stacy Whitman will be there critiquing manuscripts. If you're an aspiring author, it's a great chance to get feedback on your work.]
From the looks of it, Bird illustrator Shadra Strickland had a pretty good time at the Brooklyn Book Festival this year too. All in all, a lovely day!
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Journalist and author Pete Hamill won the annual Best of Brooklyn, Inc. (BoBi) Award, a prize the recognizing a literary figure whose work embraces the Brooklyn spirit. In the video embedded above, Hamill spoke about the honor.
This past Sunday, readers from all over New York City headed to the seventh annual Brooklyn Book Festival. Since its inception, the festival has grown dramatically; this year’s event boasted more than 280 author appearances and scheduled more than 104 panels.
Here’s more from the release: “The eldest son of Irish immigrant parents, Pete Hamill was born in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He left school at age 16 to work in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and attend night classes at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School with the intent of becoming a comic book artist. After service in the U.S. Navy, he began his career as a journalist, and over the ensuing decades covered both domestic and international wars and conflicts. Hamill is the author of 18 books, including the best-selling A Drinking Life, the novels Snow in August, Tabloid City and Forever, and a collection of short stories, The Christmas Kid, to be released in October. He also served as editor-in-chief of the New York Post and the New York Daily News.”
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Melinda Palacio
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| Melinda Palacio, Aurora Anaya Cerda, and Nora Comstock at the 14th International Latino Book Awards |
La Bloga will be reporting from La Casa Azul Bookstore in Nueva York all week. I'll be in town for all the events, including the Brooklyn Book Festival Saturday, September 23 and a book signing at the booth hosted by La Casa Azul Bookstore and Las Comadres, Booth # 122. Confirmed authors include: Esmeralda Santiago, Charles Rice-Gonzalez, John Parra, Reyna Grande, Sandra Guzman, Toni Plummer, Melinda Palacio, Alberto Ferreras, Ana Arelys Cruz Cabrera, Carlos Andres Gomez, David Unger, Grece Flores Hughes, Jaime Manrique, Lucrecia Guerrero, and Patricia Engel.
My first visit to New York as an author brought a special surprise, a win of the Mariposa Award for Best First Book for my novel, Ocotillo Dreams. I had such a grand time seeing the sights and mingling with New Yorkers that, after the June ceremony at the Instituto Cervantes, I kept saying, 'I wish I can come back to New York soon'. Immediately, my wish was granted when Adriana Dominguez invited me to join the Las Comadres booth at the Brooklyn Book Festival and the Las Comadres y Compadres Writers Conference, Saturday October 6,held at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, Brooklyn.
The conference features authors, agents, editors, and publishers, but there will also be a poetry panel, moderated by Rich Villar, Executive Director of Acentos, from 11:00 -11-50. Published poets discuss the poetry business and how to see your poems in print. Panelists include Melinda Palacio, Emanuel Xavier, and Lila Zemborain. Register for the conference here.
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| Melinda and Toni Margarita (find us at the Brooklyn Book Festival Saturday, Sept. 23 at noon, booth 122) |
For those of you playing the Where in the World is Melinda postcard contest on facebook, a big hint, I will be in New York this week and for two days in October. See if you're the first to identify where I'm at and I will write a postcard to you and drop it in the US mail.
The New York festivities begin tonight at La Casa Azul:
Book Launch Party for
Count on Me: Tales of Sisterhoods and Fierce Friendships
Thursday September 20, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Edited by Adriana V. López, this collection of stories features twelve prominent Latino authors who reveal how friendships have helped them to overcome difficult moments in their lives.
Confirmed authors:
Esmeralda Santiago, Daisy Martínez, Sofia Quintero, Michelle Herrera Mulligan and Adriana V. López.
50 for Freedom (This event is also happening nationwide, including Tia Chucha's in Sylmar from 5pm to 10 pm)
Friday September 21, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
New York City's Latino literary community will converge to participate in "50 for Freedom of Speech," a national day of action protesting the de facto banning of Latino literature in the state of Arizona (with similar legislation poised to pass in other states as a result).
Reading by banned Puerto Rican author and award-winning poet Martín Espada and readings of other banned book texts by some of New York City's top Latino academic, literary and spoken word talent.
Organized by: Librotraficante, Sangre Viva Arts Alliance and Acentos, Latino Rebels and La Casa Azul Bookstore, 143 E. 103rd street, New York, New York.
Storytelling & Book Signing by John Parra, Saturday September 22, 12:00pm - 1:00pm.
He may be a New Yorker now, but Parra is from Santa Barbara and Goleta, a fellow California native. He is a wonderful artist and I own my personal copy of My Name Is Gabriela. I'm looking forward to meeting the artist behind children's titles including: Gracias/Thanks, Waiting for the Biblioburro, P is for Piñata, and My Name is Gabriela.
Reading of The Distance Between Us
by Reyna Grande
Tuesday September 25 6:00pm - 7:30pm
You've read all about her on La Bloga, the L.A. Times, Slate, Christian Science Monitor, you name it. New yorkers can enjoy hearing Reyna Grande's story at La Casa Azul.
Reading with Sergio Troncoso & Renato Rosaldo
Thursday September 27, 6:00 - 8:00pm
Sergio Troncoso debates and challenges us on the mystery of familias, how they determine our identity and how we break free of them, from fatherhood to interfaith marriage to educating our children. From Tucson to the Philippines, from Palo Alto to Manhattan, these readable poems tell of illness and racism, love and death-all in vivid tones. Savor these poems, slowly, what you inbibe will engage and enrich you.
Here's some excellent news...
PEN Oakland officially announced the winners of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Awards. I'm honored to see Ocotillo Dreams make the list.
PEN OAKLAND
" The Blue Collar PEN" The New York Times
Announces
22st Annual 2012 Literary Awards
Saturday, December 1, 2012, 2 PM – 5 PM
(Oakland , CA), September 17, 2012 --- The 22nd Annual PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles National Literary Awards will take place on Saturday, December 1, 2012, at the Oakland Public Library, Rockridge Branch, 5366 College Avenue from 2 to 5 p.m. The ceremony is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a reception and book signings. PEN Oakland , founded in 1989, is a chapter of PEN International, founded in 1921. Dubbed "the blue collar PEN" by the New York Times, PEN Oakland annually sponsors the PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Book Awards, named for the late poet and faculty member of U.C. Berkeley's English Department. This year marks the 22st anniversary of the awards. Each year PEN Oakland presents an award to outstanding book titles published in the previous year. The Awards were created twenty years ago to honor writers of exceptional works often not acknowledged by the mainstream literary community. Judged by respected writers, the awards honor books that both reflect a multi-cultural or marginalized viewpoint and represent the highest standards of literature.
THE 2012 PEN OAKLAND-JOSEPHINE MILES LITERARY AWARD WINNERS
Ocotillo Dreams by Melinda Palacio.
Bilingual Review Press. (novel)
The Armageddon of Funkby Michael Warr.
Tia Chucha Press. (poetry)
Solitude of Five Moons by Aurora Harris.
Broadside Press/University of Detroit Mercy Press. (poetry)
La Negra y Blanca: Fugue & Commentary by Deena Metzger.
Hand to Hand Press. (novel)
Fug You by Ed Sanders.
Da Capo Press. (memoir)
Sugar Zone by Mary Mackey. Marsh Hawk Press (poetry)
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward.
Bloomsbury. (novel)
CENSORSHIP AND LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Alexander Cockburn is the winner of the 2012 Censorship Award.
Q.R. Hand will receive the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Countdown to Publication:
ONE MONTH
"Palacio’s work is expansive, physical, funeral-wet, elevated, funny, existential, woman-story, jazzy and Pachukona. She is unafraid to dive head-on into questions of death, loss and self. Into the fiery entwined spikes of father-daughter estrangements, mother-daughter intimacies and most of all, she is “insomniac” bold in this volume as an ongoing sequence on self. Melinda’s collection has Bop and “swagger,” lingo, song, denuncia,compassion and wild, unexpected turns– all the key ingredients and hard-won practices of a poet (and shaman) in command of her powers. I don’t think there is anything like this book. ¡Brillantissima!"
- Juan Felipe Herrera
At the Brooklyn Book Festival, Red Flags author Juris Jurjevics, Beaufort author Ron Leshem and Beneath the Lion’s Gaze author Maaza Mengiste participated on a panel about writing war stories. Throughout their talk, they shared these four handy tips to keep in mind when practicing this particular style of writing.
1. A lot of war stories are highly romanticized; be careful with your language to maintain authenticity.
2. In war, there is no good and there is not bad. The lines become blurred during war. Make sure that human complexicities are well incorporated into the story.
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
The Overlook Press hopes to see you this weekend at The Brooklyn Book Festival! This fantastic literary festival takes place on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 10 AM - 6 PM, at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza. One of America’s premier book festivals, this hip, smart, diverse gathering attracts thousands of book lovers of all ages.
We'll have our own booth, so please stop by and see both new releases and Overlook favorites - all available at amazingly low Brooklyn Book Festival prices. September releases Deadline Artists, Epic Win for Anonymous, Haiti, Plugged will be on display, as well our beloved Collector's Wodehouse series and the Charles Portis backlist.
We're also thrilled to have
Eoin Colfer, author of
Pluggged, at the festival this year. Eoin will be on a 3pm panel, "
Gumshoe," with Walter Mosley and Joyce Carol Oates, at the St. Ann and Holy Trinity Church, 157 Montague Street.
After the festival, Eoin will be honored at the
Irish Arts Center, 55 W. 53rd Street in Manhattan, 6:30pm. This very special evening will feature Eoin reading from his debut crime novel
Plugged, as well a Q & A session, with a reception to follow.
Also known as a cheapo filler post. It’s what puts bread on the table!
So I was invited to moderate a panel at last weekend’s Brooklyn Book Festival and I had, in no uncertain terms, a blast. Of course it was raining, as you can see here (compliments of Nancy Mercado):
Hipster children. Gotta love ‘em.
Anywho, my panel consisted of Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, and E. Lockhart (a.k.a. Emily Jenkins) and the topic: Funny Books! Emily’s the funny YA gal (though she pretty much does every possible kind of funny book out there, for every age range), Mac the funny middle grade and picture book, and ditto Jon. So my job was to ask them to say funny things. I have had more difficult jobs in my life.
My roving reporter in the field (which is to say, my mother) took down some of the best lines from the panel which I shall now play for you here.
Mac explaining where his writing comes from: “I grew up on a farm — and had a pet pig … This is going horribly wrong.”
- The best explanation of why humor doesn’t win awards was Jon saying awards are given by committees and 4 of any 12 will be offended or won’t get the jokes.
- Mac’s little brother had a Swearing Club with his friends when he was little, which he pointed out was utterly benign. Mac’s conviction was that it was way too organized to be really bad. They’d have had a President and a Treasurer … and that he would have been Secretary …
Emily said at one point, “The thing that you make is not the thing you meant to make.”
Two of the panelists set their recent books at the same public school. With that in mind, future children’s literary scholars are going to be able to identify and list a whole subgenre of P.S. 58 books.
- At one point Mac, in answer to “What’s the funniest book you’ve ever read?”, said it was Catch-22. He said that when he read it he demonstrated his total failure to get it by thinking at the time, “What if instead of WWII I set it … in my high school?”
- And the best line of the day went to Emily when she was discussing the basis behind her book Dramarama. Emily said that when she was a kid she found a camp for kids who liked theater rather than sports. The catch? She was the worst at it. “I had found my people — and I was a loser among them.”
For the record, mom also ended up setting up the chairs for the event too. Mom gets around. She took some photos too. Here, for example, is me crooning my own personal rendition of Moon River as Mac considers the portent behind the words.
3 Comments on Brooklyn Book Festival: Mac and Stinky Cheese with a Side of Lockhart, last added: 9/22/2010
11:00am-12:00pm, 2:00-3:00p
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3 Comments on Brooklyn Book Festival: Mac and Stinky Cheese with a Side of Lockhart, last added: 9/22/2010
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I would have loved to go to that. Joseph Bruchac is one of my favorite authors.